ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


«vr\d  thve 


IRREPRESSIBLE 


CONFLICT 


O.  L.  BARLER 


A  STUDY 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


THE  LAST 
AND  GLORIFIED  DECADE 

of  HIS 
EVENTFUL  LIFE 


By  O.  L.  BARLER. 


BEATRICE,  NEB.: 

PA0L  SPRINGER,  PRINTER  AND  BINDER. 
1903 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Irrepressible  Conflict. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Return  to  Springfield. 

CHAPTER   III. 

The  Lincoln  Monument  at  Oak  Park. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Lincoln  Anecdotes  Tersely  Told. 

CHAPTER   V. 

Lincoln  Memorial  University. 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Lincoln's  Religious  Views. 


PREFACE. 


The  Frenchman  says:  "After  Hugo, 
God."  But  Abraham  Lincoln  is  easily  the 
world's  incomparable  man;  and  at  this  remove 
of  forty  years,  he  is  still  growing  on  our  vis- 
ion. Our  children  will  know  and  appreciate 
him  more  than  we,  and  our  grand  children 
more  than  they. 

This  contribution   to   the  great  mass  of 

Lincoln  literature  extant  fills  an  empty  space, 
in  this;  it  is  brief,  and  tells  only  what  bears 

oft  repeating.  It  can  be  read  by  the  busy  man 
at  a  sitting.  It  would  make  fit  supplementary 
reading  in  public  and  private  schools;  and 
the  author  has,  in  its  preparation,  an  eye  to 
this  use. 


Abraham  Lincoln 


CHAPTER  I.  - 

THE   IRREPRESSIBLE   CONFLICT. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  is   one  of   the 
two  greatest  characters  in  American 
history.     Washing-ton  the  father,  Lincoln 
the  savior  of  his  country. 

But  the  great  man  was  modest  in  the 
extreme;  and  when  the  nation  called  him, 
he  said  in  all  sincerity: 

"I  am  not  fit  to  be  president.' 
When  in  1860,  it  became  evident  that 
he  would  be  the  Republican  nominee  for 
the  presidency,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune  (Scripps)  applied  to  him 
for  material  from  which  to  write  a  first 


6  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

biography  of  his  life.     Mr.  Lincoln  made 
protest,  and  said: 

"There  is  nothing-  to  write;  one  line 
of  Oliver  Goldsmith  tells  it  all, 

4'  'The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
poor.'  "    ..       .  -,-...     .... 

When  Lincoln  was  nineteen  years  of 
age,  having  reached  a  stature  of  nearly 
six  feet  and  four  inches,  he  had  a  yearning 
to  see  the  world  outside.  He  piloted  flat- 
boats  of  produce  upon  the  Illinois  and  Mis- 
sissippi rivers  to  New  Orleans;  and  here 
witnessed  the  horrors  of  slavery.  He  said, 
then: 

"If  I  ever  get  a  chance,  I'll  hit  that 
thing  hard.' 

When  twenty-five  years  old,  and  a 
member  of  the  legislative  body  of  his  state, 
he  put  on  record  his  vote  and  protest 
against  slavery,  declaring  it  to  be  "founded 
on  injustice  and  in  bad  policy.'  This  was 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  7 

in  the  year  1834,  the  year  that  Lovejoy 
suffered  martyrdom  at  Alton  for  the  same 
cause;  and  in  that  same  year,  Garrison  was 
dragged  by  a  mob  through  the  streets  of 
Boston. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  presiden- 
tial elector  on  the  Whig  national  ticket, 
and  four  years  later  he  was  active  in  the 
presidential  campaign  for  Henry  Clay.  I 
first  saw  him  in  that  campaign,  and  heard 
him  speak  at  Washington,  Tasewell  Co., 
Illinois,  on  the  tariff  question. 

In  1846  his  district  in  Illinois  elected 
him  to  congress,  and  in  that  congress  he 
introduced  a  bill  looking  to  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  compensation  therefor.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln gave  further  expression  of  his  anti- 
slavery  impulses  by  voting  for  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  "more  than  forty  times  in  one 
way  or  another,'  he  says. 


S  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

But  such  was  the  pro-slavery  senti- 
ment of  the  time,  he  despaired  of  ever  see- 
ing* the  day  when  the  cause  of  Freedom — 
the  cause  nearest  his  heart — could  get  a 
Hearing-. 

And  when  his  congressional  term  of 
service  expired  in  1849,  he  left  his  seat 
discouraged;  his  interest  in  politics  waned, 
and  he  quit  the  field,  and  g-ave  himself  up 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

The  repeal  of  the  "Missouri  Compro- 
mise" bill  in  1854,  which  opened  the  terri- 
tories of  the  United  States  to  the  invasion 
of  slavery,  aroused  the  sleeping"  lion  in 
Mr.  Lincoln's  breast.  His  time  had  come! 
The  throes  preceeding-  the  birth  of  the 
Republican  party  were  on,  and  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  easily  the  leader  of  the  new  party. 

• 

It  was  in  May,  1856,  at  Blooming-ton, 
that  the  first  Republican  State  Conven- 
tion was  held.  Two  years  of  wrestling* 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  9 

with  opposition,  and  preparation  had  been 
looking-  forward  to  this  event.  Editor 
Medill,  of  the  Chicag-o  Tribune,  had  in- 
sisted— and  his  insistance  prevailed — that 
the  infant  party  should  be  christened, 
"The  National  Republican,"  and  he  and 
Rufus  Spaulding-  wrote  the  platform:  "No 
more  slave  states  ;  no  more  slave  territory. ' 
John  C.  Vaug-han  added  the  two  clauses: 
"Slavery  is  sectional;  Liberty  is  national.^ 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  present  at  the  meet- 
ing-, which  was  held  in  a  church.  He  was 
not  a  deleg-ate,  and  by  chance  or  other- 
wise, he  addressed  the  Convention  and 
made  a  speech  which  was  said  to  be  the 
most  eloquent  of  his  life. 

W.  C.  Lovejoy  had  just  spoken,  when 
a  cry  over  the  house  was  made  for  "Lin- 
coln," 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
proceeding's,  and  was  sitting-  in  the  back 


10  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

part  of  the  house.  When  his  name  was 
called,  he  "stalked  forthwith  a  swing-ing-, 
g-iraffe  lope;  '  he  never  walked  straig-ht 
like  other  men.  Standing-  in  front  of  the 
pulpit,  he  began: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  I  am  not 
here  as  a  delegate;  I  have  no  credentials;  I 
might  be  taken  as  an  interloper.  But  you 
have  given  me  a  call  to  speak,  and,  I  have, 
like  a  Methodist  minister,  responded." 

Shouts  of  "Take  the  pulpit!"  went 
up  from  every  part  of  the  house.  He  took 
the  pulpit,  and  continued: 

"A  few  of  us  got  together  in  my  office 
yesterday  at  Springfield,  and  we  elected  our- 
selves sympathetic  visitors  to  this  Conven- 
tion. We  have  no  Republican  party  in 
Springfield,  and  I  forsee  perturbations  that 
will  tax  the  wisest  of  men  to  keep  American 
citizens  from  imbruing  their  hands  in  the 
blood  of  their  brothers." 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  11 

Then  he  drew  a  picture  of  slavery, 
and  delivered  a  most  terrible  invective 
upon  that  institution. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  great 
speech  of  Lincoln's,  said  to  be  the  first  in 
a  series  of  events  that  made  him  president, 
was  not  preserved. 

Mr.  Medill  said;  "I  have  often  tried 
to  reproduce  that  speech  from  memory,  but 
have  as  often  failed,  and  had  to  give  it  up, 
and  it  is  lost  to  the  world.  I  remember 
the  last  sentence:  'Come  what  will,  you 
may  count  on  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  bitter 
end,''  -but  I  do  not  pretend  to  remember 
more;  and  when  the  speech  was  ended,  I 
found  myself  standing-  on  the  top  of  the 
table,  shouting1  and  yelling-  like  one  pos- 
sessed; but  I  had  no  notes  and  my  fellow 
reporters  were  in  a  like  fix.' 

Another  account  of  this  Blooming-ton 
speech  is  g-iven  by  Mr.  Herndon,  Lincoln's 


12  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

partner  in  business.  He  relates  that  he 
attempted,  for  a  few  minutes,  to  take  notes 
as  usual,  but  presently  threw  pen  and  pa- 
per to  the  winds  and  lived  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  hour. 

"L/incoln   came    forward,'     said    Mr. 

Herndon,"  in  answer  to  repeated  calls,  and 
made  a  speech,  the  grandest  effort  of  his 
life.  Hitherto  he  had  argued  the  slavery 
question  on  the  ground  of  policy.  Now, 
he  was  newly  baptized  and  freshly  born, 
and  he  had  all  the  fervor  of  a  new  convert. 
The  smothered  flame  broke  out,  his  face 
all  ag-low,  his  eyes  afire,  and  he  spoke 
rig-lit  on,  and  out,  as  one  inspired. 

"His  speech  overflowed  with  fun,  and 
force,  and  fury.  It  was  log-ic;  it  was 
pathos;  it  was  enthusiasm  refined.  It  was 
justice  and  truth,  all  ablaze  from  a  soul 
maddened  by  great  wrong-.  'Slavery  is 
wrong-,  or  nothing-  is  wrong",'  he  shouted 
at  the  top  of  his  voice. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  13 

4 'It  was  in  his  heart,  then,  to  say;  'I 
believe  this  government  cannot  endure  per- 
manently, half  slave  and  half  free;  it  will 
become  all  the  one  thing-  or  all  the  other.' 
He  had,  as  I  knew,  incorporated  these 
words  in  this  Bloomington  address,  but 
had  yielded  at  the  last  moment  to  the 
pleadings  of  his  friend,  Judge  Dickey,  and 
withheld  them  'for  this  campaign  only.'' 
But,  with  this  phrasing  of  words  out,  the 
speech  was  heavy,  hard,  knotty,  and  a 
righteous  indignation  and  wrath  lay  back 
of  it  all. 

4 'If  ordinarily  the  speaker  was  six  feet 
and  four  inches  high,  at  Bloomington,  on 
that  day  in  May,  he  was  seven  feet. 

"He  felt  the  weight  of  a  great  cross 
upon  him.  A  great  idea  held  him  firmly; 
he  nursed  it,  and  taught  it  to  others.  He 
lived,  henceforth,  in  the  light  of  it,  and 
was  at  last,  a  martyr  to  it. ' 


14  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Manifestly,  only  one  born  great  is 
fitted  to  lead  in  the  supreme  hour;  there 
must  be  greatness  of  soul  for  great  achiev- 
ing-. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  advantage  over  his  op- 
ponents was,  other  thing's  being-  equal, 
that  "he  instinctively  felt  that  he  had  jus- 
tice, philosophy,  the  constitution,  and  the 
enlig-htened  opinion  of  mankind  upon  his 
side." 

It  was  in  June,  1858,  at  the  State  Con- 
vention, assembled  at  Spring-field,  that 
Lincoln  first  stated  publicly  the  one  great 
issue  in  the  political  campaig-n,  as  he  had 
conceived  it  two  years  before,  and  which 
statement  he  reluctantly  withheld  at  the 
ever  memorable  Blooming-ton  meeting*.  He 
said,  in  that  convention  in  Spring-field: 

"In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease,"  mean- 
ing the  slavery  agitation,  "until  a  crisis  shall 
have  been  reached  and  passed.  'A  house  di- 
vided against  itself  cannot  stand. '  I  believe 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  15 

bhis  government  cannot  endure  permanently 
half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the 
union  to  be  dissolved;  I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall;  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to 
be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or 
all  the  other. " 

These  brave,  prophetic  words  did  de- 
feat Lincoln  for  the  Senate,  as  his  anxious 
friends  had  predicted  that  they  would; 
but,  better  than  they  knew,  they  con- 
tributed to  make  him  president.  When, 
in  later  years,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  ques- 
tioned as  to  why  he  made  that  speech 
in  Springfield,  so  in  advance  of  that  day, 
and  so  in  advance  even  of  his  own  party,  he 
answered  simply:  "I  made  up  my  mind  it 
was  time  to  sa}^  something-."  And  what 
he  said  led  to  the  great  Lincoln-Doug-las 
Debate.  Doug-las  promptly  answered  in 
Chicag-o,  the  "House  Divided  Ag-ainst  It- 
self" speech.  Lincoln's  challeng-e  to  de- 
bate followed;  the  result  is  well  known. 


16  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  immediate  effect  of  Lincoln's  bold 
front  and  words  lost  him  many  old  friends, 
who  would  not  g"o  so  far,  even  with  him. 
But  "Abe"  Lincoln  was  steadfast.  "I 
would  rather  g-o  down  in  defeat,  with 
these  words  in  my  speech  and  held  up  and 
discussed  before  the  people,  than  to  be 
victorious  without  them.';  To  his  loyal 
friends,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"This  thing  has  been  retarded  long 
enough.  The  time  has  come  when  these  sen- 
timents should  be  uttered,  and  if  it  is  decreed 
that  I  shall  go  down  for  uttering  them,  then 
let  me  go  down;  let  me  die  for  the  truth  and  the 
right." 

But  one  of  a  dozen  leading  Republicans 
to  whom  Lincoln  read  his  speech,  approved 
of  it.     That  one  was  Herndon.     He  said, 
"Deliver  the  speech  as  you  have  it,  and  it 
%uill  make  you  president.' 

One  other    thing-  said,   in    that  famous 
Spring-field  address,  was  prophetic,     Mr. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  17 

Lincoln  had  complimented  his  opponent  by 
saying, 

"Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a 
man  may  rightfully  be  wiser  today  than  he 
was  yesterday.  Now,  whenever,  if  ever, 
Judge  Douglas  and  we  can  come  together  on 
principle,  so  our  cause  may  have  assistance 
from  his  great  ability,  I  hope  to  have  inter- 
posed no  adventitious  obstacle  I  wish  now, 
as  ever,  not  to  misrepresent  Judge  Douglas' 
position,  or  do  ought  that  can  be  personally 
offensive  to  him." 

"  Whenever,  if  ever,  Judg-e  Dotiglas 
and  we  can  come  together  !"  History  tells 
how  quickly  "Judge  Doug-las  and  we' 
came  together  and  how  we  did  have  the 
"assistance  of  his  great  ability,'  For 
when  the  great  rebellion  broke  out  and  be- 
fore Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  his  seat,  Judg-e 
Douglas  went  to  him  and  offered  his  loyal 
services  to  the  g-overnment  and  was  accept- 
ed. 


18  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

At  the  first  inauguration,  Douglas 
stood  near  the  president  and  held  his  hat 
while,  from  the  steps  of  the  capitol,  L/in 
coin  read  his  address.  Douglas,  it  is  report 
ed,  was  his  closest  hearer  and  nodded  ap 
proval  repeatedly.  When  the  presiden 
had  taken  the  oath,  Judge  Douglas  was 
first  to  grasp  his  hand  and  extend  congrat 
ulations. 

Although  Douglas  died  within  a  fev 
weeks  from  that  date  and  before  the  wa: 
had  much  progressed,  his  great  influeno 
lived  and  was  potent  in  the  North  to  thi 
end  of  the  struggle.  . 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  said  in  his  debafr 
with  Judge  Douglas  on  the  occasion  jus 
alluded  to: 

"But  clearly,  .Judge  Douglas  is  not  wit! 
us  now;  he  does  not  pretend  to  be  with  us;  hi 
does  not  pretend  ever  to  be  with  us.  Plain 
ly,  then,  we  must  appeal  to  our  undoubtei 
friends  for  support  of  our  cause. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.         -  19 

"Two  years  ago,  the  Republicans  of  the 
nation  mustered  but  thirteen  thousand  strong, 
and  we  fought  the  battle  through  under  the 
constant,  hot  fire  of  a  disciplined,  proud  and 
pampered  enemy.  Did  we  brave  all  then,  to 
falter  now?— now,  when  that  same  enemy  is 
wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent? 

• 

"The  result  is  not  doubtful;  we  shall  not 
fail;  if  we  stand  firm  we  shall  not  fail.  Wise 
sounsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it, 
but  sooner  or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to 


come.' 


Mr.  L/incoln,  in  his  subsequent  debates 
with  Douglas,  warmed  over  the  substance 
of  the  '  'House  divided  against  itself 
speech;  but  his  illustrations  and  word  pic- 
turing" were  so  fresh  and  forceful  that  it 
did  not  seem  like  repetition. 

Lincoln  confuted  Senator  Douglas'  in- 
terpretation of  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Douglas  had  said  that  the 
framers  of  that  Declaration  meant  by  "all 


20  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

men"  all  "British  subjects,"  and  no  other 
were  meant.  Lincoln  said  they  meant  a 
men;  that  "all  men  are  created  equal. 
Not  equal  in  all  respects,  but  "equal  i 
some  respects."  Men  are  "not  equal  i 
color,  nor  in  size,  nor  in  intellect,  nor  i 
moral  developement  nor  in  social  capacity 
but  all  are  equal  in  certain  inalienabl 
rig-hts,  among-  which  are  life,  liberty,  am 

pursuit  of  happiness.' 

Mr.  Lincoln  explained  that    the  fram 

ers  of  The  Declaration  of  Independence  di 
not  mean  to  assert  that  "all  men  are  actu 
ally  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  inalienabl 
rights,'  nor  did  they  mean  that  the  Dec 
laration  of  Rights  did  or  could  confer  in 
alienable  rig-hts.  The  authors  of  Th 
Declaration  meant  to  declare  the  rig-hts  t 
which  man,  as  man,  is  entitled,  and  the_ 
left  the  consummation  of  what  oug-ht  to  b 
to  follow  as  best  it  could  and  when  i 
could. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  21 

"They  set  up  the  standard  for  free  society 
vhich  should  be  recognized  by  all,  revered 
>y  all  and  constantly  strived  for  by  all;  and 
;hough  never  attained,  should  be  constantly 
ipproximated.  It  was  placed  in  The  Declara- 
tion not  for  use  in  our  separation  from  Great 
Britain,  but  for  future  use.  It  vas  meant  to 
:>e  a  stumbling  block  for  all  who  seek  to  en- 
slave men;  it  was  meant  to  be  a  hard  nut  for 
tyrants  to  crack" 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  now  a.  national  repu- 
tation, won  through  his  contact  with 
Douglas  in  the  great  debates.  As  the 
year  1860  drew  near,  Lincoln's  name  was 
being  freely  mentioned  in  the  West  in  con- 
nection with  the  presidency.  The  eastern 
cities  wanted  to  see  and  hear  this  strange 
illiterate  man  of  the  forest,  the  fame  of 
whose  exploiting  in  the  West  had  reached 
them. 

It  was  arranged  that  he  should  go  to 
New  York  City,  and  he  accepted  an  invita- 


22  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tion  to  speak  in  Mr.  Beechers'  church  ii 
Brooklyn.  After  his  arrival  in  the  metrop 
olis,  the  place  of  meeting"  was  changed  t 
the  "Cooper  Union  Institute,"  so  man; 
wished  to  hear  him. 

The  address  he  made  on  that  occasioi 
has  been  lauded  as  "one  of  the  most  logic 
al  and  convincing  political  speeches  eve: 
made  in  this  country.'  Hon.  Jos.  H 
Choate,  of  New  York  City,  gives  the  fol 
lowing  graphic  account  of  the  man  and  hi; 
effort: 

'  'It  is  now  forty  years  since  I  first  sa~v 
and  heard  Abraham  Lincoln,  but  the  impres 
sion  which  he  Jeft  on  my  mind  is  ineffacable 
He  appeared  in  every  sense  of  the  word  lik< 
one  of  the  plain  people  among  whom  he 
loved  to  be  counted. 

"As  he  talked  with  me  before  the  houi 
of  meeting  at  Cooper  Union,  he  seemed  ill  ai 
ease  with  that  sort  of  apprehension  a  youn^ 
man  might  feel  before  presenting  himself  tc 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  23 

b  new  and  strange  audience  whose  critical 
Lisposition  he  dreaded. 

"It  was  a  great  audience  including  all  the 
aost  noted  men,  all  the  learned  and  cultured 
if  his  party  in  New  York,  editors,  clergymen, 
tatesmen,  lawyers,  merchants,  critics.  All 
yere  very  curious  to  hear  him .  His  fame  as 
)  powerful  speaker  had  proceeded  him  and 
ixaggerated  rumor  of  his  wit  had  reached  the 
ast. 

"When  from  the  high  platform  of  the 
hooper  Institute  William  Cullen  Bryant  pre- 
ented  him,  a  vast  sea  of  eager,  upturned 
aces  greeted  him,  full  of  intense  curiosity  to 
ee  what  this  rude  child  of  the  people  was 
ike. 

"He  loas  equal  to  the  occasion.      When    he 

* 

poke,  he  was  transformed,  his  eye  kindled, 
ds  voice  rang,  his  face  shone  and  seemed  to 
ight  up  the  whole  assembly.  For  an  hour  and 
t  half  he  held  that  audience  in  the  hollow  of 
lis  hand. 

"His  style,  and  speech,    and    manner  of 


24  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

delivery,  were  severely  simple.  'The  grand 
simplicities  of  the  Bible'  as  Lowell  says,  wit! 
which  he  was  so  familiar  were  reflected  in  hi 
discourse.  With  no  attempt  at  ornament  o 
rhetoric,  without  parade  or  pretense,  h< 
spoke  straight  to  the  point.  If  any  came  ex 
pecting  the  turgid  eloquence  or  ribaldry  o 
the  frontier,  they  must  have  been  startled  a 
the  earnest  and  sincere  purity  of  his  utter 
ance. 

"It  was  marvelous  to  see  how  this  untu 
tored  man  by  mere  self  dicipline  and  th> 
chastening  of  his  own  spirit,  had  outgrown  al 
meretricious  arts  and  found  his  way  to  th< 
grandure  and  strength  of  absolute  simplicity 
In  the  kindliest  spirit,  he  protested  against  th< 
avowed  threat  of  the  Southern  States  to  de 
stroy  the  Union,  if,  in  order  to  secure  free 
dom  in  those  vast  regions  out  of  whicl 
future  states  were  to  be  carved,  a  Repub 
lican  president  were  elected. 

"He  closed  with  an  appeal  to  his  audience 
spoken  with  all  the  fire  of  his  aroused  an< 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  25 

4 

kindled  conscience,  with,  a  full  outpouring  of 
his  love  of  justice  and  liberty,  to  maintain 
their  political  purpose  on  that  lofty  and  unas- 
sailable issue  of  right  and  wrong  which  alone 
could  justify  it  and  not  to  be  intimidated 
from  their  high  resolve  and  sacred  duty  by 
any  threats  of  destruction  to  the  government 
or  of  ruin  to  themselves.  He  concluded 
with  this  telling  sentence  which  drove  the 
whole  argument  home  to  all  our  hearts: 

**  'Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes 
might  and  in  that  faith  let  us  to  the  end  dare 
to  do  our  duty  as  we  understand  it. ' 

"That  night  the  great  Hall,  and  the  next 
day,  the  whole  city  rang  with  delighted  ap- 
plause and  congratulations,  and  he  who  had 
come  as  a  stranger  departed  with  the  laurels 
of  a  great  triumph." 

Another  witness  of  this  scene  said; 

"When  Lincoln  rose  to  speak,  I  was 
greatly  disappointed,  so  tall  was  he  and  ang- 
ular and  so  awkward.  For  an  instant,  I  felt 
pity  for  so  ungainly,  a  man.  But  he  had 


26  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

spoken  not  many  words  when  he  straighten- 
ed up,  made  regular  and  graceful  gestures; 
his  face  lighted  as  from  an  inward  fire;  the 
whole  man  was  transfigured  before  that  great 
multitude. 

"I  forgot  his  personal  appearance  and 
his  individual  peculiarities;  and,  forgetting 
myself,  I  was  on  my  feet  with  the  rest,  yelling 
like  a  wild  Indian  and  cheering  the  wonderful 
man. 

"In  the  closing  parts  of  his  argument  you 
could  hear  the  sizzling  of  the  gas  burners, 

and  when  he  reached  a  climax,  the  thunders 
of  applause  were  terrific! 

41 It  was  a  great  speech.  When  I  came  out 
of  the  hall  my  face  was  glowing  with  excite- 
ment, and  my  frame  all  a  quiver.  A  friend  in 
the  audience  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  Abe 
Lincoln.  I  answered,  'He's  the  greatest  man 
since  St.  Paul  I '  And  I  think  so  yet. " 

It  was  now  apparent  to  many  what 
would  happen  in  the  near  future;  that  at 
the  great  Olympiad  at  Chicago,  May 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  27 

16th,  Abraham  Lincoln  would  be  the  nom- 
inee for  president,  and  in  November  would 
be  elected. 

He  had  the  votes,  it  was  believed,  and 
the  voters  were  flinging-  his  name  against 
the  sky.  "//  is  the  voice  of  God"  they  cry. 

But  would  the  election  of  a  Republi- 
can president  bring  dis-union  and  a  civil 
war?  These  were  threatened,  but  it  was 
not  believed  that  the  people,  either  north 
or  south,  wanted  war,  or  expected  it.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  himself,  scarcely  believed  it. 

"Surely   it   will  not  come   to   this;  only 
madness  could  go  so  far." 

This  Lincoln  thought,  and  he  made  it 
known,  that  he  would  not  be  the  aggres- 
sor. But  there  were  leaders  in  the  rebel- 
lion who  meant  war,  beyond  what  was 
then  commonly  known.  They  had  long 
openly  threatened  it  and  longer  secretly 
prepared  for  it. 


28  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  election  in  November  was  nc 
sooner  declared,  than  the  dis-union  move- 
ment in  the  south  broke  out  in  open  revolt 
and  in  reckless  haste,  seven  states  (after- 
wards eleven  in  all)  adopted  ordinances  oJ 
secession  and  formed  an  independent  con- 
federacy, electing"  Jefferson  Davis,  presi- 
dent. 

This  was  some  weeks  before  Lincoln 
was  inaugurated,  and  before  he  could  lif 
a  fing-er  to  stay  the  revolt  against  the  gov 
ernment,  in  which  the  reigning*  administra 
tion  of  Buchanan  seemed  to  have  no  heart 
and  no  purpose  to  check;  so  the  cause  o1 
.the  Union  had  to  suffer,  L/incoln's  hands 
tied,  until  the  4th  of  March. 

On  Peb.  llth,  L/incoln  left  his  home  it 
Springfield  on  his  w^ay  to  Washington,  t< 
take  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  governmen 
and  pilot  the  Ship  of  State  through  th" 
roug^h  seas  of  unreason  and  passion.  T< 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  29 

his  many  friends  who  met  him  at  his  home 
depot,  he  said; 

"No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  know 
the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this 
people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived 
more  than  quarter  of  a  century;  here  my 
children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies 
buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you 
again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me,  greater, 
perhaps,  than  has  devolved  upon  any  man 
since  the  days  of  Washington.  My  friends, 
pray  that  I  may  receive  the  Divine  assistance, 
without  which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with 
which  I  cannot  fail." 

At  Cincinnati,  on  his  way  east,  Lin- 
coln addressed  himself  to  the  Kentuckians, 
many  of  whom  were  present  to  hear  him. 
He  reminded  them  of  what  he  told  them 
in  the  same  city  a  year  before. 

"I  said  then:  'When  we  beat  you  in  the 
elections,  as  we  expect  to  do,  you  will  want  to 
know,  perhaps,  what  we  intend  to  do  with 
you — I  told  you  what  we  intended.  I  will  tell 


30  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

you  now,  as  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak 
what  we  mean  to  do  with  you, 

"We  mean  to  treat  you,  as  near  as  w 
possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson  an 
Madison  treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  yo 
alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  you 
institutions,  and  to  abide  by  all  and  ever 
compromise  of  the  Constitution. " 

The  train  carrying1  the  president  an< 
his  body  guard  to  the  national  Capital  ar 
rived  in  Philadelphia  on  Washington' 
birthday.  It  was  arranged  that  the  pres 
ident  should  raise  a  new  American  flag  ove 
Independence  Hall,  on  which  occasion  h 
made  the  happiest  little  impromptu  speed 

of  his  life, 

"All  the  political  sentiments  I  entertair 

have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I  have  been  abl 
to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments  whicl 
originated  in,  and  were  given  to  the  worl 
from  this  Hall.  I  have  never  had  a  feeling 
politically,  that  did  not  spring  from  the  ser 
timents  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Ind( 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  31 

)endence,  sentiments  which  allow  liberty  not 
>nly  in  this  country,  but  to  all  the  world  and, 
or  all  time. 

"Now,  my  friends,  can  this  country  be 
;aved  upon  this  basis?  If  it  can,  I  will  con- 
sider myself  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the 
vorld  if  I  can  help  save  it.  But  if  this  coun- 
ty cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up  that 
)rinciple,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would  rather  be 
assassinated  on  this  spot  than  surrender  it." 

It  was  here  the  friends  of  Lincoln 
earned  of  a  plot  in  Baltimore  to  assassi- 
late  him  as  his  train  passed  through  that 
;ity.  Once,  in  Indiana,  an  attempt  was 
nade  to  wreck  the  presidential  train  by 
placing-  obstructions  on  the  track.  A  sim- 
lar  attempt  was  made  in  Ohio  by  the  use 
>f  dynamite. 

But  the  Baltimore  conspiracy  was  so 
past,  some  twenty  persons  being-  involved 
in  it,  that  detectives  were  put  upon  their 
track,  and  Mr.  L/incoln  at  last  yielded  to 


32  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  insistence  of  his  friends,  that  he  shoul 
steal  his  way  through  the  disloyal  city  : 
the  night,  on  an  earlier  train,  and  his  parl 
follow  on  schedule  time.  This  was  done, 
telegram  having  announced  the  president 
advanced  arrival,  the  regular  train  carr; 
ing  the  presidential  party  was  not  moleste* 
The  city  of  Washington  was  filk 
with  enemies  of  the  administration,  and 
was  by  no  means  sure  that  Mr.  L/incol 
would  be  inaugurated  into  his  great  offic 

without  farther  attempt  to  take  his  life. 
On  the  4th  of   March,  however,  L/ii 

coin  was  duly  and  safely  inaugurated  an 
his  address  sent  forth  to  the  people,  a  ma: 
terpiece  of  persuasive  speech,  and  of  f; 
therly  counsel,  in  the  kindliest  words,  ; 
though  to  wayward  children,  whom  he  fa: 

would  turn  from  going   in  perilous  way 
He  assured  the  people  of  the  souther 

states  that  their  property  and  personal  s< 
curity  were  not  in  the  least  endangered  t 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  33 

ie  accession  of  a  Republican  administra- 
on  to  power,  and  he  referred  to  declara- 
ons  of  his,  oft  repeated,  and  found  in 
early  all  his  published  speeches. 

"I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  these,  when  I 
^clare  I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indi- 
5Ctly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
avery  in  the  states  where  it  exists.  I  be- 
Bve  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I 
ive  no  inclination  to  do  this." 

And  after  affectionately  reasoning-  with 
lem  on  this  point,  he  said: 

"I  shall  take  care,  as  the  constitution  it- 
ilf  expressly  enjoines  upon  me,  that  the 
,ws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all 
ie  states.  Doing  this,  I  deem  it  to  be  only  a 
mple  duty  on  my  part,  and  I  shall  perform  it, 
>  far  as  practicable,  unless  my  rightful  mas- 
srs,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold  the 
squisite  means,  or  in  some  authorative  man- 
3r  direct  to  the  contrary. 

i 

"In  doing  this,  there  need  be  no  blood- 
ied or  violence,  and  there  shall  be  none,  un- 


34  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

less  it  be  forced  upon  the  national  authorit 
That  there  are  persons,  in  one  section  or 
another,  who  seek  to  destroy  the  Union  at  i 
events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext  to  do  so, 
will  neither  affirm  nor  deny;  but  if  there  1 
such,  I  need  address  no  word  to  them. 

"To  those,  however,  who  really  love  tl 
Union,  may  I  not  speak?  Before  entering  u 
on  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruction  of  o 
national  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  mei 
ories,  and  its  hopes,  would  it  not  be  wise 
ascertain  precisely  why  we  do  it? 

"Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  ste 
when  the  certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  great 
than  the  real  or  imaginary  ones  you  fly  froc 
Will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful 
mistake? 

'•All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union, 
all  constitutional  rights  can  be  maintaine 
Is  it  true,  that  any  right,  plainly  written 
the  Constitution  has  been  denied?  I  tbii 
not.  Happily,  the  human  mind  is  so  cons 
tuted  that  no  party  can  reach  to  the  audaci 
of  doing  this. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  35 

"Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance 
i  which  a  plain  written  provision  of  the  Con- 
itution  has  ever  been  denied.  No.  We  di- 
ide  upon  questions  where  the  Constitution 
Des  not  expressly  answer.  From  questions 
f  this  class  spring  all  our  constitutional  con- 
•oversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  in  maj or- 
es and  minorities.  If  the  minority  will  not 
^quiesce.  the  majority  must,  or  the  govern- 
ent  must  cease. 

"One  section  of  our  country  believes 
avery  is  right,  and  ought  to  be  extended, 
hile  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong  and  ought 
ot  to  be  extended.  This  is  the  only  substan- 
al  dispute.  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot 
iparate;  we  cannot  remove  our  respective 
actions  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impas- 
ible  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife 
iay  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence 
f  each  other;  but  the  different  parts  of  our 
3untry  cannot  do  this;  they  cannot  but  re- 
lain  face  to  face,  and  intercourse,  either  am- 
jable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them. 


36  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"Is  it  possible  then,  to  make  that  inte 
course  more  advantageous,  or  more  satisfa 

tory  after  separation  than  before?  Can  aliei 
make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  mal 
laws?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  e 
forced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  be  b 
tween  friends? 

"Suppose  you  go   to  war.     You  cann 
fight  always,  and  when   after   much  loss   ( 
both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  ceai 
fighting;    the   identical   old   questions  as 
terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you." 

"My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calc 
ly  and  well  upon  this  whole  subject.  Nothir 
valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  If  thei 
be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you  in  hot  hast 
to  take  a  step  which  you  would  never  take  d 
liberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated  t 
taking  time,  but  no  good  object  can  be  fru 
trated  by  it. 

"I  am  loathe  to  close.  We  are  not  em 
mies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be  enemiei 
Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  mu/ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  31 

3t  break  our  bond  of  affection.  The  mystic 
lords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  bat- 
e  field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living 
3art  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad 
nd,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union, 
hen  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be, 
JT  the  better  angels  of  our  nature. " 

The  cautious  and  pacific  policy  shad- 
wed  forth  in  this  first  inaugural  address 
ras  admirable.  Nothing-  could  be  written 
lore  to  the  purpose;  and  yet  these  concili- 
tory,  wise,  and  just  words  had  no  effect 
pon  the  secessionists;  upon  the^vavering•, 
ine  minds  of  the  north  they  had  a  power- 
'il  effect.  But  the  radical  element  in  the 
Republican  party  was  not  satisfied.  They 
rould  have  been  pleased  to  have  had  a 
lore  drastic  paper,  and  a  war  with  slavery 
t  once.. 

Mr.  Lincoln  would,  because  he  felt  lie 
mst,  allow  to  slavery  all  the  protection 
be  Constitution  expressly  gave;  he  would 


38  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

» 

not  disturb  it  in  the  states  where  it  w; 
established,  and  where  it  had  constitutio; 
al  rights.  Lincoln's  policy  was,  not  to  i 
augurate  bloodshed.  He  would  wait  f< 
the  enemies  of  the  Union  to  strike  the  fir 
blow.  Then,  "if  the  one  side  would  g 
to  war  for  disunion,  for  no  other  purpoi 

than  to  preserve  slavery,  then  the  w; 
must  continue,  on  the  other  side,  for  tl 

Union,  to  destroy  slavery. ': 

In  that  first  inaugural  address  Linco" 
had  said: 

4 'In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  countr; 
men,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issi 
of  Civil  War;  the  government  will  not  assau 
you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  beinj 
yourselves,  the  aggressors.  You  have  i 
oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the  go1 
ernment,  while  I  have  the  most  solemn  on< 
'to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.' 

And  now,  Lincoln,  at  the  head  of  tt 
government,  and  the  Commander  in  Chie 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  39 

F  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
ras  confronted  with  the  fact  that  he  had 
either  army  nor  navy,  save  a  remnant  of 

ich  on  hand.  The  outgoing  administra- 
on,  sympathizing-  with  the  Rebellion,  had 

urposely  or  helplessly,  allowed  the  plot- 
jrs  of  internal  dissentions  to  scatter  the 
[ready  too  small  army  and  navy  to  distant 
uarters  of  the  globe,  that  they  might  not 
2  on  hand  when  needed;  at  a  time  these 
?cret  enemies  of  the  government  saw 
)tning,  a  time  they  meant  should  come. 

The  forts  and  arsenals  in  reach  had 
sen  appropriated,  and  held  for  service 
gainst  the  union,  when  the  hour  arrived. 
'he  treasury  was  empty,  and  there  were 
Dt  guns  on  hand  to  arm  volunteers, 
forse  than  all,  the  northern  states  were 
Dt  united  in  the  purpose  of  the  govern- 
ent  to  preserve  the  union,  at  all  hazards. 

Never  was  president  beset  with  such 
faculties.  "A  task  greater  than  Wash- 


40  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ington's"  was  on  his  hands.  But  he  ne 
er  faltered  or  despaired  of  success.  E 
grew  to  the  work  he  had  confronting-  hit 
and  met  the  emergency  of  each  day  as 
arrived,  proving-  himself^equal  to  the  tas 
When  the  border  states  were  anxious  ai 

hesitating,  undecided  whether  to  cast  the 
lot  on  the  side  of  union  or  disunion,   th< 

plied  the  president  with  questions  a's 
what  course  he  would   pursue  in   treatit 
with  the  rebellious  states.     Lincoln  nev 
prevaricated,  or  g^ave  any  uncertain  soun 
His  policy,  from  the  first,  he  cleary  state 

When  a  committee  from  the  Virgin 
Convention,  just  after  the  firing  on  Po 
Sumpter,  called  on  him,  asking-  concernir 
the  policy  the  federal  executive  intended 
pursue  in  reg-ard  to  the  confederate  state 
he  answered: 

"It  is  my  purpose  to  use  the  power  co 
fided  in  me  to  hold,  occupy  and  possess  pro 
erty  and  places  belonging  to  the  governmer 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  41 

,nd  to  collect  the  duties  and  imports;  but  be- 
•ond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects,  there 
rill  be  no  invasion,  no  use  of  force  against  or 
,mong  the  people  anywhere.  In  case  it 
>roves  true,  as  is  reported,  that  Fort  Sumpt- 
T  has  been  assaulted,  I  shall  hold  myself  at 
iberty  to  repossess  it,  if  I  can;  and  in  any 
vent,  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel 
orce  by  force." 

Lincoln  kept  his  promise  to  make  no 
nvasion,  use  no  force  against  any  people 
,ny  where,  and  least  of  all,  to  inaugurate 
>lood-shed  when  blood  had  to  be  shed. 

On  the  12th  day  of  April  following-  the 
nauguration,  Beauregard  with  a  hostile 
,rmy  fired  upon  Fort  Sumpter,  in  Charles- 
on  Harbor.  It  was  the  first  gun  in  the 
freat  strife, --the  world's  most  terrible 
y\v\l  War.  On  the  Union  side  alone,  two 
nillion  soldiers  and  5  billions  of  treasure 
vere  involved,  covering  four  years  of  dur- 
ition. 


42  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Now  let  us  follow  this  man  of  destiny 
who  from  this  on,  was  continully  doini 
what  only  the  greatest  men  of  history  ar 
wise  enough  to  do.  L/incoln  made  hi 
rivals  and  personal  enemies  member 
of  his  cabinet,  Seward  and  Chase,  am 
a  little  later,  Stanton.  These  me: 
had  been  unfriendly  to  L/incoln.  They  di< 
not  consider  him  in  their  class. 

Seward  especially,  was  smarting"  un 
der  the  wrong",  as  he  conceived  it,  his  par 
ty  had  done  him,  in  choosing  this  uncul 
tured  man  of  the  West  before  himself  fo 
president.  And  in  his  thought  of  superior 
ity,  Seward  undertook  to  dictate  to  Mr 
L/incoln.  He  wrote  out  a  memorandum  o 
things  to  do,  telling  him  that  he,  the  presi 
dent,  had  no  policy,  domestic  or  foreign 
and  that  he  ought  to  do  this  and  that. 

Had  another  man  been   president,   th 

affront  would  have  been   a   mortal   insult 
and  Mr.  Seward  would  have  been,  the  nex 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  43 

ay,  a  private  citizen.  But  Lincoln  ig-- 
;ored  the  insult,  and  retained  the  services 
f  his  really  great  secretary;  but  he  was 
areful  to  refresh  his  memory  with  the  in- 
3rmation  that  the  administration  did  have 
very  decided  domestic  policy,  clearly 
tated,  as  laid  down  in  the  inaugural  ad- 
ress,  with  his,  (Seward's,)  approval;  that 
he  administration  had  also  a  foreign  pol- 
:y,  as  declared  in  his  own,  (Seward's) 
dispatches,  with  the  President's  approv- 
1.'  And  he  further  tutored  his  cabinet 
fficer,  that  if  any  policy  was  to  be  main- 
lined, or  changed,  that  he,  the  president, 
rould  direct  that  policy  on  his  own  re- 
ponsibility,  and  in  performing"  that  duty, 
e  said,  "/  have  a  right  to  the  advice  of  my 
?cretaries" 

There  was  never  afterwards  a  repeti- 

on  of  this  offense,  which  first  offense  was 
pardoned  as  a  temporal  abberration  of  a 
reat  mind"  and  Mr.  Seward  atoned  for  it 


44  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

afterwards  by  devoted  personal  loyalty 
and  through  great  service  rendered  th 
union  cause. 

After  the  firing  on  Port  Sumpter,  th 
president's  call  for  seventy-five  thousan 
fighting  men  had  quick  response.  The  loya 
citizen  would  now  go  to  war  to  save  th 
union,  but  not  yet,  would  the  norther 
states  fight  to  destroy  slavery.  L/incol 
knew  this;  he  understood  the  people  bette 
than  any  other  man;  he  knew  one  othe 
thing,  that  if  the  war  continued  for  an 
considerable  time,  slavery  could  notsurviv 

Mr.  L/incoln  reasoned  that  the  goverr 
ment  had  no  right  to  make  war  to  destro 
slavery  where  it  existed,  in  the  beginning 
but  the  slave  power  making  war  to  pn 
serve  and  extend  slavery,  must  forfeit  il 
right  and  lose  in  the  end. 

The  government  had  a  right  to  d< 
stroy  any  power,  as  a  war  measure,  tha 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  45 

hreatened  to  destroy  the  existence  of  the 
•overnment.  Lincoln  foresaw,  that  if  the 
yar  continued,  the  time  would  come,  when 
s  a  necessary  measure,  he  must  exert  all 
he  executive  power  of  the  government  to 
.estroy  slavery,  root  and  branch. 

When  it  becomes  a  necessity  of  war  to 
ave  the  Union,  the  institution,  or  thing- 
hat  caused  the  war,  must  fall.  This 
pas  Mr.  Lincoln's  position  from  the  first. 
Dhat  time,  in  his  opinion,  had  not  yet  ar- 
ived;  but,  clearer  than  others,  Lincoln 
aw  it  coming.  "Wait  for  it,'  he  said  to 
.is  dissatisfied  friends,  "and  you  will  see 
b.'  Lincoln  would  not  act  before  the 
ime,  as  some  would  have  him  do.  "Events 
ontrol  me/  he  said,  "1  cannot  control 
vents.' 

It  was  in  July,  1862,  when  the  presi- 
ient  surprised  his  cabinet  with  a  draft  of 
lis  Emancipation  Proclamation.  The  pa- 
>er  in  its  conception  and  phrasing  was  Lin- 


46  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

coin's.  He  laid  it  before  his  secretaries  c 
a  war  measure,  on  which  his  mind  ws 
made  up.  He  asked  for  suggestions  i 
details  only.  Secretary  Seward  favore 
delaying  the  public  proclamation  a  littL 

Mr.  Lincoln's  idea  was  to  make  th 
preliminary  announcement,  giving  notic* 
that  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  \ 
would  issue  another  proclamation,  declai 
ing  that:  "All  persons  held  as  slave 
within  any  state,  the  people  whereof  sha 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  Unite 
States,  shall  be  henceforth  and  forev< 
free.'  In  the  cabinet  meeting  Mr.  L/ii 
coin  yielded  to  pressure,  and  consented  1 
wait  for  the  next  victory  that  would  con: 
to  the  Union  Arms,  before  issuing  Tt 
Proclamation. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  the  batt' 

of  Antietam  was  fought,  and  won.  Tl: 
president  called  his  cabinet  members  t< 
gether  and  informed  them,  that  the  tin 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  47 

>r  promulgating-  the  Emancipation  policy 
id  arrived,  and  in  a  low  and  reverent 
>ne  he  said:  "7  have  promised  my  God 
at  I  will  do  it. ' 

Mr.  Chase  said;  "Do  I  understand 
DU  correctly,  Mr.  President?'5 

Lincoln  replied:  "I  have  made  a 
>lemn  vow  before  God,  that  if  General 
ee  should  be  driven  back  from  Pennsyl- 
mia,  I  would  crown  the  result  by  the 
iclaration  of  freedom  to  the  slaves.'  And 
i  Monday,  September  22d,  the  prelimi- 
iry  proclamation  was  issued. 

This  proclamation  gave  one  hundred 
iys'  notice  of  what  would  come  on  Jan- 
iry  1st,  1863.  No  attention,  whatever, 
the  slave  states,  was  given  to  this  proc- 
mation.  January  1st,  1863,  came-,  and 
ith  it  went  forth  the  great  Emancipation 
roclamation,  the  one  great  act  of  Abra- 
im  Lincoln's  life,  that  will  never  be  for- 


48  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

gotten,  and  that  crowns  him  the  deliver* 
and  benefactor,  not  only  of  the  colore 
man,  but  of  the  human  race. 

"Rarely  does  the  happy  fortune  come 
one  man  to  render  such  a  service  to  his  kim 
to  proclaim  liberty  throughout  the  land  uni 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof".  (Choate) 

"A  great  historic  event,  sublime  in  i 
magnitude,  momentous  in  its  far-reaching  coi 

sequences,  and  eminently  just  and  righ 
alike  to  the  oppressor  and  oppressed 
(Garrison. ) 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  signed  this  men 
orable  document,  Mr.  Seward  alone  wa 
present  and  he  said  to  his  secretary: 

"If  my  name  ever  goes  into  history,  it  w\ 
be  for  this  act,  and  my  whole  soul  is  in  it." 

The  proclamation  came  not  a  day  tc 
soon,  but  public  sentiment  had  to  be  edv 
cated  up  to  it,  and  would  not  have  sus 
tained  it  sooner,  Simultaneously  with  ii 

publication  came  the  news  of  the  victor 
at  Stone's  River,,  and  of  the  general  ac 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  49 

ince  of  the  Union  armies  both  east  and 
est,  and  there  was  a  turn  in  the  fortunes 
:  war  favorable  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
•om  that  moment  and  henceforth. 

On  July  1st  of  that  year,  the  two  im- 
ense  armies  of  the  north  and  the  south 
et  at  Gettysburg*,  in  what  was  meant  to 
3  a  decisive  battle;  for  three  days  the 
?lds  ran  blood,  the  bloodiest  battle  of  the 
ar.  The  northern  armies  won,  at  a  tre- 
endous  cost  for  victory. 

Next  day,  the  fourth  of  July,  Vicks- 
irg  surrendered,  and  the  fate  of  the  ill- 
arred  Rebellion  was  virtually  decided, 
lough  the  final  end  came  later,  the  lost 
Luse  dying  hard,  still  giving  and  receiv- 
g  much  punishment. 

The  state  of  Pennsylvania  immediate- 
purchased  a  piece  of  the  battlefield  at 
ettysburg,  and  set  it  apart  as  a  burrying 
round  for  the  loyal  soldiers  who  had  there 


50  ABUAHAM  LINCOLN. 

fallen  by  thousands,  giving  up  their  Ir 
a  free  will  offering,  that  the  nation  mi£ 
live.  Before  the  year  closed,  four  and  ( 
half  months  after  the  battle,  the  grou 
was  dedicated  by  an  oration  from  the  H< 
Edward  Everett,  in  the  presence  of  ft 
Lincoln  and  his  cabinet,  and  a  large  c< 
course  of  people  assembled. 

After  the  set  oration  of  the  day,  i 
president  gave  a  two  minute  addre 
which  to-day  is  read  in  the  schools  as 
Gem  in  literature,  and  which,  at  the  tin 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Everett  complimented 
saying,  that  he  would  gladly  exchange  '. 
forty  pages  for  this  brief  address  of  1 
president.  Mr.  L/incoln  said: 

"Four  score  and  seven  years  ago  c 
fathers  brought  forth  upon  this  continent  an 
nation,  conceived  in  liberty  and  dedicated 
the  proposition  that  all  men  are  creal 
equal. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  51 

•  'Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war, 
jsting  whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so 
mceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure. 

are  met  on  a  great  battle  field  of  that  war. 

have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 

• 

eld  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who 
ere  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might 
ve.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that 
re  should  do  this.  But  in  a  larger  sense  we 
annot  dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we 
annot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men, 
ving  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have 
onsecrated  it  far  above  our  poor  power  to 
dd  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note, 
or  long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it 
an  never  forget,  what  they  did  here. 

1  'It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedi- 
ated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they 
rho  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  ad- 
anced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedi- 
ated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us, 
3  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full 
leasure  of  devotion;  that  from  these  honored 


52  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

dead  we  take  increased  devotion;  that  we  he 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  ha 
died  in  vain;  that  this  nation  under  God  sh 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom;  and  that  govei 
inent  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  t 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

Ralph    Waldo  Emerson  says,   "wh< 
an  orator  rises  in  his  thought,  he  descem 
in  his  language  to  a  level  with  the  ear 
all  his  audience/      It  was  marvellously 
on  this  November  day.       The   presidenl 
great  speech,  instantly  telegraphed,  ele 

trified  the  whole  country.  The  peopl 
lettered  and  unlettered,  caught  the  insj 

ration  of  the  words  that  went  straight 
every    heart — the   best    specimens  of  el 
quence  we  have  had  in  this  country.' 

There    were   union   men   opposed 
President  Lincoln's  policy  of  making  ui 
of  the  colored  people  for  soldiers,  seam< 
and  helpers  in  the  army.     To  them  he  r 
plied: 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  53 

'*!  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery 
not  wrong,  nothing  is  wrong.  I  cannot  re- 
Bmber  when  I  did  not  so  think  and  feel,  and 
it  I  have  never  understood  that  the  presi- 
sncy  conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted 
?ht  to  act  officially  upon  this  judgment  and 
eling.  I  aver  that  to  this  day,  I  have  done 
>  official  act  in  mere  deference  to  my  ab- 
ract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery. 

"I  did  understand,  however,  that  my 
Lth  to  preserve  the  constitution  to  the  best 
my  ability,  imposed  upon  me  the  duty  of 
•eserving  that  government,  that  nation,  of 
hich  that  constitution  was  the  organic  law. 
'as  it  possible  to  lose  the  nation  and  yet  pre- 
Tve  the  constitution?  I  felt  that  measures 
herwise  unconstitutional  might  become  law- 
.1  by  becoming  indispensable  to  the  preser- 
ition  of  the  constitution  through  the  preser- 
ition  of  the  nation.  I  assumed  this  ground 
id  now  avow  it.  I  could  not  feel  that  I  had 
ren  tried  to  preserve  the  constitution,  if  to 
>ve  slavery  or  any  minor  matter,  I  had  per- 


54  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mitted  the  wreck  of  government,  constitutio 

and  all  together. 

"Early  in  the  war,  General  Fremont  a 

tempted  military  emancipation.  I  forbade  i 
not  deeming  it  then  an  indispensable  nece 
sity.  General  Cameron,  Secretary  of  Wa 
suggested  arming  the  blacks;  I  objected;  d 
not  think  the  indispensable  time  had  com 
General  Hunter  attempted  military  emanc 
pation;  I  again  forbade  it,  believing  the  tin 

had  not  yet  come. 

"In  March,  May  and  July  of  1862,  I  mac 

earnest  and  successive  appeals  to  the  bord< 
states  to  favor  compensated  emancipation, 
believed  that  the  indispensable  necessity  f< 
military  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacl 
would  come,  unless  averted  by  this  measur 
They  declined  the  proposition,  and  I  wi 
driven  to  choose  between  surrendering  tl 
Union,  or  laying  a  strong  hand  on  the  colore 
element.  I  chose  the  latter;  and  more  than 

year  of  trial  shows  the  wisdom  of  the  choic< 
We  have  gained  a  hundred  and  thirty  thoi 
sand  soldiers,  seamen  and  laborers. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  55 

"And  now  let  any  Union  man  who  com- 
lins  of  the  measure,  look  at  these  palpable 
its;  he  is  for  taking  these  hundred  and 
rty  thousand  men  from  the  Union  side,  and 
ice  them  where  they  would  be  for  the  meas- 
j  he  condemns.  If  he  cannot  face  his  case 
stated,  it  is  only  because  he  cannot  face  the 
\th."  ;•.";•"  •  '":'•/;'>•  '  '  "  * 

The  cruel  and  needless  war  had  now 
itinued  for  three  years,  and  in  the  first 
If  of  1864,  the  financial  difficulties  that 
set  the  union  were  formidable.  The 
itional  currency  was  greatly  deprecia- 
I,  until  it  required  nearly  three  dollars- 
purchase  one  of  gold. 

In  May  of  that  year,  General  Grant 
nmenced  his  campaign  in  the  east,  and 
a,ch  day's  slaughter  was  an  army;"  but 
;  invincible  general  held  his  grip,  and 
itinued  to  advance.  Meantime  General 
erman  was  on  his  march  of  a  thousand 
les  through  the  confederate  states,  and 


56  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

purposed  to  reach  the  sea;  and  during  t 
whole  year;  the  union  forces  were  victo; 
ous  on  every  important  battlefield.  Ne 
ertheless,  it  was  seen,  that  the  war  wou 
drag"  its  slow  length  along  into  the  ne 

administration. 

Lincoln's  second   nomination  was  o 

posed  by  dissatisfied  radicals,  and  othe 
of  his  own  party;  but  when,  at  the  Natio 
al  convention  in  Baltimore,  the  votes  we 
counted,  Lincoln  won,  receiving  every  vo 
save  that  of  Missouri;  and  by  motion  of 
Missouri  delegate  the  nomination  w 
made  unanimous. 

With  November  came  the  day  of  ele 
tion,  Lincoln  receiving  two  hundred  ai 
twelve  electoral  votes  and  the  oppositi< 
the  remaining  twenty-one.  The  last  ho] 
of  the  rebellion  was  now  gone,  and  it  ne 
•er  after  gained  a  substantial  victory. 

In  the  hour  of  his  vindication  and  ti 
nmph  Lincoln  said  to  his  late  opponents: 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  57 

* 'Now  that  the  election  is  over,  may  we 
ot  all  have  a  common  interest,  unite  in  a 
ommon  effort  to  save  our  common  country, 
'or  my  own  part,  I  have  striven  and  will 
brive  to  place  no  obstacle  in  the  way.  So 
>ng  as  I  have  been  here,  I  have  not  willingly 
lanted  a  thorn  in  any  man's  bosom.  I  do 
ot  impugn  the  motives  of  any  man  who  op- 
oses  me.  It  is  no  pleasure  to  me  to  triumph 
ver  any  one;  but  I  give  thanks  for  this  evi- 
ence  of  the  people's  resolution  to  stand  by 
ree  government,  and  the  rights  of  humanity, 
have  never  done  an  official  act  with  a  view 
o  my  own  personal  aggrandizement." 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  message  to  Con- 
•ress  in  December,  after  his  re-election, 
eminded  them  of  the  advanced  position  of 
he  American  people  upon  the  subject  of 
lavery,  and  urged  them  to  pass  a  joint 
esolution  submitting  an  amendment  to  the 
onstitution  of  the  United  States,  abolish- 
ag  slavery  throughout  the  Union,  to  the 


58  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

legislatures  of  the  several  states.  He  sai( 
"it  must  come  to  this  and  the  sooner  i 
comes  the  better.'  In  closing-  his  message 

he  said: 

"I  retract  nothing   heretofore  said  as  t< 

slavery.  I  repeat  the  declaration  made  a  yea: 
ago,  that  while  I  remain  in  my  present  posi 
tion,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  nor  shall  '. 
return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  ty 
the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  the  acti 
of  congress.  If  the  people  should,  by  what 
ever  mode  or  means,  make  it  an  executive 
duty  to  re  enslave  such  persons,  another  anc 
not  I,  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it. ' 
The  joint  resolution  for  the  extinc- 
tion of  slavery  passed  Congress  Jan.  31st, 
1865,  which  was  quickly  ratified  by  more 
than  the  three  fourths  required  of  the  state 
L/egfislatures  and  the  thirteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  was  added,  and 

the  proclamation  made  throug-hout  the 
land. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  59 

The  time  is  short;  events  hasten;  the 
cond  inaugural  address  made  forty  days 
:fore  the  assassination  had  gone  to  the 
;ople.  In  that  address,  "greater  than 
e  Gettysburg  address' '  says  Carl  Schurz, 
d  it  is  not  much  longer,  the  president 
>urs  out  the  whole  devotion  of  his  great 
ul.  No  president  or  ruler  in  any  land 
er  found  such  words  in  the  depths  of  his 
art  as  these: 

"On  the  occasion,  corresponding  to  this, 
jr  years  ago,  all  thoughts  were  anxiously 
*ected  to  an  impending  civil  war.  All 
saded  it;  all  sought  to  avoid  it.  One  party 
>uld  make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation 
rvive;  and  the  other  party  would  accept  war 
mer  than  let  it  perish.  And  the  war  came. 

"Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the 

bgnitude,or  the  duration  which  it  has  already 

:ained.     Neither  anticipated  that  the  cause 

the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or 4 even  be- 

*e  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.     Each 


60  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  le 
fundamental  and  astonishing.  Both  read  tl 
same  Bible  and  prayed  to  the  same  God;  ai 
each  invoked  his  aid  against  the  other.  Tl 
prayers  of  both  could  not  be  answered;  th 
of  neither  has  been  answered  fully. 

"Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  T 
pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  mj 
speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that 
continue,  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  t] 
bondman's  two  hundred  years  of  unrequit< 
toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop 
blood  drawn  by  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  a 
other  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  sa 
three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  1 
said:  'The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  tn 
and  righteous,  altogether.' 

"With  malice  toward  none,  with  chari 
for  all;  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  G< 
gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on 
finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  tl 
nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  sha 
have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  ai 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  61 

;s  orphan;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
lerish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
ilves  and  with  all  nations." 

More  hastily  than  any  knew,  the  clos- 
g  scenes  of  the  great  war  were  being 
lacted.  History  was  making  fast.  The 
:bel  Congress,  in  desperation,  itself,  en- 
:ted  a  law,  at  the  last  minute,  giving 
eedom  to  the  slave,  on  condition  that  he 
ould  enter  the  military  service  and  fight 
>r  the  confederacy.  But  it  was  too  late, 
heir  schemes  all  failed  and  the  revelation 
failure  was  quickly  published  to  all  the 
orld. 

Grant  moved  irresistibly  against  the 
:bel  works  at  Petersburg,  and  on  to  Rich- 
ond;  only  to  find  the  city  evacuated,  and 
ady  to  receive  the  victorious  army. 

Ten  days  were  left  President  Lincoln 

complete  his  work,  when  he  entered  the 

lien   capital    of   the  confederacy.     Five 

lys  were  Lincoln's  when  the  whole  rebel 


63  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

army  under  General  L/ee  surrendered  1 
General  Grant,  at  Appomattox,  and  tl 
monster  rebellion  collapsed.  Loyal  mi 
lions  all  over  the  land  in  the  thought  of  a 
danger  past,  now  gave  way  to  shouts  < 
" Victory  and  peace;  peace  and  victory. 
Three  days  were  left  when  Preside! 
L/incoln  addressed  the  public  for  the  la: 
time,  reconstruction  the  theme.  There 
to  be  no  more  tearing  down,  but  a  builditi 
up.  A  reconstructed  Union,  stronger  tha 
ever,  will  arise;  and  to  use  his  word 
"The  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretchic 
from  battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to  evei 
living  heart  and  hearthstone,  will  again  1 
touched  by  the  angels  of  man's  better  n; 

ture." 

Less  than  one  day  remained!     "*T 

the  fourth  anniversary  of  the  disloyal  hau 
ing  down  of  the  American  flag  on  Po 
Sumpter  and  by  order  of  the  Presiden 
that  flag,  this  fourteenth  day  of  April, 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  63 

3  be  replaced  and  the  day  made  celebrate, 
o  far  as  practicable,  in  all  loyal  homes. 

The  commander  in  chief  of  all  the  Un- 
)n  armies  on  land  and  sea  at  length  would 
nbend  himself.     "The  play's  the  thing1.' 
laking  one  of  a  party  of   four,  including 
is  wife,  he  went  to  the  theatre. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  when  the  presiden- 
tal  party  entered  their  box.  It  was  ten 
'clock  when  the  assassin  entered  by 
tealth,  a  lie  upon  his  lips.  He  said  to  the 
entinel,  that  the  President  had  sent  for 

im. 

A  pistol  shot!  a  scream/  a  leap  to  the 

tage  below.  The  murderer's  spur,  catch- 
ig  in  the  folds  of  a  near-by  American  flag, 
hrew  him  to  the  floor,  where  he  was  at 
nee  recognized  as  J.  Wilkes  Booth.  Re- 
overing  himself,  and  brandis.hing  a  drawn 
agger,  he  cleared  his  way  to  a  back  door, 
nd  quickly  escaped  on  a  fleet  horse  held  in 
waiting  by  an  accomplice.  All  this  was 


64  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

enacted  in  moments  of  time,  and  before 
was  known,  in  the  packed  audience,  wh 
had  happened. 

A  pause!  and  then  the  cry:  "he  h 
shot  the  President.'  Terror  and  conf 
sion  seized  the  crowd;  bedlam  reigne 
men  yelled,  women  fainted  and  the  we; 
fell  and  were  trodden  upon.  The  Pre 
dent's  guard,  two  hundred  strong,  entere 
charged  the  crowd  and  cleared  the  buil 

ing. 

Never  was  so  wild  a  scene  in  any  pla 

house  since  the  world  began.  A  real  tra< 
edy  was  there,  where  before  there  had  o 
ly  been  mimic  ones;  nor  ever  again  d 
Ford's  theatre  open  to  please  or  terrori 
the  public. 

The  story  of  President  Lincoln's  a 
sassination  is  the  saddest  page  in  Amei 
can  history.  And  in  Lincoln's  murder  tl 
unfortunate,  [but  fortunately  vanquisher 
south  lost  their  very  best  friend.  "Wil 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  65 

ilice  toward  none  and  with  charity  for 

I,"  he  would  have  been  a  brother  to  them 

their  sorest  need.     He  made  the  wrath 

his  enemies  to  praise  him.     The  south, 

arcely  less  than  the  north  regretted  the 

olent  ending*  of  the  great  war  President's 

i 

e, 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  presentiment,  more 
an  once  expressed,  that  he  would  have  a 
olent  death,  that  he  would  not  outlive 
e  rebellion,  that  he  would  die  with  it* 
is  parting-  with  his  mother  in  1861,  just 
ifore  going-  to  his  first  inauguration  in 
rashing-ton  was  pathetic.  The  mother 
id  "they  will  kill  }'ou."  He  answered 
T,  "if  they  kill  me,  I  will  never  die 


rain/ 


Who  knows?  Abraham  Lincoln  may 
ive  at  this  juncture  of  affairs  served  his 
untry  better  by  his  death,  than  he  could 
ive  served  it  by  a  further  continuance  of 
:e.  May  he  not  have  been  "too  full  of  the 


66  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

milk  of  human  kindness"  for  the  rough  a 
critical  work  needed  in  the  reconstruct! 
period? 

"There  is  a  Providence  that  rules  t 
fate  of  peoples,  that  makes  little  account 
time  and  no  account  of  disasters;  that  cc 
quers  alike  by  what  is  called  defeats,  as 
what  is  called  victory;  that  thrusts  aside  t 
unfit,  everything  that  resists  the  moral  la 
of  the  world,  and  ordains  that  only  that  1 
which  combines  perfectly  with  the  virtues 
all  shall  endure/'  -Emerson. 

That  Lincoln  in  his  life  and  in  \ 
death  served  the  whole  country  is  now  t 
lieved  by  all--by  the  North  and  by  t 
South. 

Abraham  Lincoln  loved  man  and  hat 
all  injustice. 

"The  kindly,  earnest,  brave,  forese 
ing-  man.'  -Lowell. 

What  wonder,  if  multitudes  of  stroi 
men  everywhere  wept  for  the  death  of  o 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  67 

ey  had  never  seen?     It  was  pardonable 
the  poet  who  seemed  to  think  himself  a 
litary  mourner. 
),  Captain!  my  Captain!  our  fearful  trip  is 

done; 
?he  ship  has  weathered  every   wrack,  the 

prize  we  sought  is  won; 
Fhe  port  is  near,  the  bells  I  hear,  the  people 

all  exulting, 

AThile  follow  eyes  the  steady  keel,  the  vessel 
grim  and  daring; 

But  O.  heart!  heart!  heart! 

0,  the  bleeding  drops  of  red, 
Wtoere  on  the  deck  my  Captain  lies, 
Fallen,  cold  and  dead, 

3,  Captain!   my  Captain!  rise  up  and  hear 

the  bells; 
Rise  up!  for  you  the  flag  is  flung,  for  you 

the  bugle  trills; 
For  you  bouquets  and  ribboned  wreaths,  for 

you  the  shores  a  crowding; 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying   mass,  their 

eager  faces  turning; 


68  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Here,  Captain!  dear  father! 

This  arm  beneath  your  head; 
It  is  some  dream  that  on  the  deck 

You've  fallen  cold  and  dead. 

44My  Captain  does  not  answer,   his  lips  a 

pale  and  still; 
My  father  does  not  feal  my  arm,  he  has  ] 

pulse  nor  will; 
The  ship  is  anchored  safe  and  sound,    i 

voyage  closed  and  done; 
From  fearful  trip  the  victor  ship  comes 
with  object  won; 

Exult,  O,  shores;  and  ring,  O,  bells; 

But  I  with  mournful  tread, 
Walk  the  deck  my  Captain  lies 
Fallen,  cold  and  dead. 

—  Walt  Whitman. 


CHAPTER  II.     *•'' 

THE  RETURN  TO  SPRINGFIELD. 

The  seventh  day  after  the  tragical 
:ath  of  President  Lincoln,  the  funeral 
rtege  left  Washing-ton,  on  its  long  and 
rcuitous  journey  of  sixteen  hundred  miles 
the  old  home  in  Illinois.  The  interest 
id  devotion  of  the  people  everywhere 
ong  the  line  were  the  same,  unaffected, 
ncere  and  profound.  Everybody  at  farm- 
mse,  hamlet,  town  and  city,  seemed  to  be 
i  hand  with  their  offering-  of  tears  and 
rmpathy. 

No  president  or  monarch,  or  mortal 
an  ever  had  such  triumphal  march  to  the 
rave,  spontaneous  and  genuine,  as  it  was 
liversal  in  tribute  to  worth  and  great- 

iSS. 

BALTIMORE. 

Baltimore    was  the   first    stop    from 


70  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Washing-ton.  Four  years  before,  the  pr< 
ident  did  not  dare  pass  openly  through  tl 
city,  for  fear  of  assassination.  Now,  ] 
martyred  remains  were  tearfully  recei^v 
with  every  possible  mark  of  respect 
thousands  who  viewed  them  in  the  mi 
chant's  exchange  building,  where  they  1 
in  state.  It  was  said,  in  no  city  were  t 
manifestations  of  grief  more  sincere  th 
in  Baltimore. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

In  Philadelphia  "the  people  we 
counted  not  by  thousands  but  by  acres 
The  body  of  the  president  was  conveyed 
Independence  Hall,  the  procession  marc 
ing  with  uncovered  heads  to  the  sound 
a  dirge  performed  by  a  band  in  the  obsei 
atory  over  the  hall.  Prom  the  barracl- 
cannon  were  booming,  and  the  bells  we 
tolling  throughout  the  city.  At  Inc 
pendence  Hall,  the  remains  lay  in  state  f 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  71 

vo  days  and  two  nights,  and  was  open  to 
le  public  until  midnight  of  each  day. 

Four  years  before  Lincoln  stood  upon 
te  platform  whereon  his  body  now  lay* 
emorable  were  his  words.  He  had  flung* 
new  American  flag  to  the  breeze.  In  his 
rief  address,  he  referred  to  the  declara- 
on  of  Independence,  which  had  its  birth 
,  and  its  dissemination  from  that  hall,  and 
3  said: 

* 'There  is  something  in  that  Declaration 
at  gives  hope  to  the  world.  There  is  in  it 
te  promise,  that  in  due  time  the  weights 
tall  be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men, 
id  that  all  shall  have  an  equal  chance.  Now 
y  friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  on  that 
LSIS?  If  it  can.  I  will  consider  myself  one  of 
e  happiest  of  men,  if  I  can  help  save  it;  but 
it  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up  that 
•inciple,  I  was  about  to  say,  I  would  rather 
j  assassinated  upon  this  spot  than  surrender 


72  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

;  He  saved  the  country  "on  that  princ 
pie,'  •  nor  yet  escape  the  assassination. 

NEW  YORK. 

At  the  ferry  landing1  in  New  Yot 
City,  the  coffined  remains  of  the  presidei 
were  transferred  to  a  magnificent  canopi( 
hearse  or  funeral  car  sixteen  feet  long"  at 
twenty-three  feet  high.  On  the  platfort 
five  feet  from  the  ground,  was  a  long  t; 
ble  on  which  the  coffin  rested  and  from  th 
elevation  it  could  easily  be  seen  over  tl 
heads  of  the  multitude.  Over  the  dais  < 
table,  the  canopy  was  supported  by  co 
umns  and  by  a  miniature  temple  of  liberi 
which  temple  was  represented  as  despoile 

The  platform  was  covered  by  blac 
cloth  hung  nearly  to  the  ground,  edg< 
and  festooned  with  silver  bullion  fring 
The  canopy  was  trimmed  in  the  same  ma 
tier,  with  black  cloth  festooned  and  spa: 
gled  with  silver  bullion,  with  corners  su 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  73 

ounted  by  rich  plumes  of  black  and  white 
athers.  At  the  base  of  each  column, 
iree  American  flag's  inclined  outward, 
stooned  with  crape.  The  inside  of  the 
,r  was  lined  with  white  satin. 

In  the  center  of  this  canopy  hung"  a 
rge  eagle,  with  outspread  wings,  and  in 
s  talons  a  laurel  wreath.  The  platform 
ound  the  coffin  was  strewn  with  flowers. 

The  funeral  car  was  drawn  by  sixteen 
hite  horses,  covered  with  black  cloth 
imming,  each  horse  led  by  a  groom.  The 
•ocession  was  most  imposing,  as  it  moved 
.rough  a  sea  of  humanity  on  all  sides  as 
,r  as  the  eye  could  see.  Every  house  was 
•aped  in  mourning,  and  in  every  direction 
igs  flying  at  half  mast.  Minute  guns 
-ing  in  the  distance,  church  bells  tolling, 
d  Trinity's  chime  bells  wailing  forth 
31d  Hundred"  in  a  solemn  and  impres- 
ve  manner. 


74  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

At  the  city  hall  the  body  of  the  ma 
tyred  president  lay  in  state.  All  day,  at 
all  night  long,  the  stream  of  humanity  co: 
tinued  to  flow  through  the  great  hall;  bi 
thousands  upon  thousands  who  had  stoc 
in  line  for  hours  never  reached  the  coffins 
remains.  A  military  force  of  fifteen  tho 
sand  men  joined  in  the  great  demonstr; 
tion. 

CLEVELAND. 

The  largest  expenditure  made  by  at 
city  on  the  route  to  provide  a  resting  pla; 
for  a  few  hours  for  the  remains  of  Abr; 
ham  Lincoln  was  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  ] 
a  public  park  a  beautiful  temple  had  bee 
erected.  Within  was  a  gorgeous  cat; 
falque  or  tomb. 

"This  temple  seemed  in  daylight  as  if 
was  a  creation  of  fairy  land,  and  when  lighte 
up  at  night  with  all  the  lanterns,  and  stan< 
ing  out  amid  the  surrounding  darkness,  looke 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  75 

ore    like   the   realization  of  an   enchanted 
tstle,  than  the  work  of  men's  hands." 

COLUMBUS. 

At  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  magnificent 
>arse  which  the  citizens  provided  for  the 
:casion,  was  as  large  and  richly  furnished 
>  that  at  New  York,  and  the  procession 
y  far  the  most  imposing*  that  had  ever 
issed  through  the  streets  of  Ohio's  capi- 
,1.  Battle  flags,  torn  and  riddled  with 
illets  in  fights  for  the  Union,  were  borne 
r  Ohio  regiments  or  drooped  sadly  around 
le  place  where  rested  the  lifeless  clay  of 
braham  Lincoln.  The  address  of  the 
on.  Job  Stevenson  on  the  occasion  was 
>table.  He  said: 

'  'President  Lincoln  pleaded  and  prayed 
r  peace;  'long  declined  the  war,'  and  only 
len  the  storm  in  fury  burst  upon  the  flag, 
i  he  arm  for  the  Union.  Tried  by  dire  dis- 
ter,  he  stood  firm;  he  trusted  in  God,  and 


76  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  people;  and  the  people  trusted  in  God  ai 
in  him.  Tried  by  civil  affairs  which  won 
have  tested  the  .powers  of  Jefferson,  Hami 
ton  and  Washington,  he  administered  them  j 
wisely  and  well,  that  after  three  years 
Washington,  no  man  was  found  to  take  h 
place.  Tried  in  every  way,  he  comes  for 
the  greatest  of  living  men. 

"What  have  we  here?  After  four  sho 
years  of  sarvice  he  returns,  borne  upon  tl 
bosom  of  millions  of  men;  his  way  water< 
with  tears  and  strewn  with  flowers.  He  w 
the  true  friend  of  the  south  as  Jesus*  was  tl 
friend  of  sinners,  ready  to  forgive  and  sa- 
when  they  repent.  Ours  is  the  grief,  thei 
the  loss  and  his  the  gain.  He  died  for  liber 
and  Union,  and  now  he  wears  the  martyi 
glorious  crown;  he  is  our  crowned  presides 
The  imperial  free  Republic,  the  best  ai 
strongest  government  on  earth,  will  be  a  mo 
ument  to  his  glory,  while  over  and  above  2 
shall  rise  and  swell  the  great  dome  of  b 
fame." 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  77 

CHICAGO. 

Approaching*  Chicago,  one  hundred 
iles  out,  the  funeral  escort  was  met  by  a 
bizen's  committee  of  one  hundred  mem- 
•rs.  The  train  halted  at  L/ake  Park, 
here  three  immense  Gothic  funeral  arches 
.d  been  erected.  Fifty  American  flag's 
ith  drapery  interwoven,  were  used  for 
coration.  Busts  and  portraits  of  Lin- 
In  and  two  figures  of  the  American  eagle, 
id.  appropriate  inscriptions  were  added, 
^re  the  coffined  bodily  form  of  the  presi- 
nt  rested  for  a  while. 

Thirty  six  young  lady  pupils  from  the 
g-h  schools,  representing  the  thirty  six 
ites,  dressed  in  white,  walked  around 
e  bier  and  deposited  floral  gifts,  while 
e  Light  Guard  Band  played  the  L/incoln 
quiem,  composed  for  the  occasion.  The 
sket  was  then  placed  in  a  funeral  car, 
d  the  immense  procession  passed  through 


78  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  streets,  according'  to  the  prograi 
which  had  been  definitely  prescribed,  a 
in  due  time  arrived  at  the  Court  Hous 
Over  the  door  were  inscribed  the  wore 
"The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain  upon  1: 
high  places.' 

A  gorgeously  prepared  catafalque  i 
ceived  the  coffin,  and  there  for  twen 
eight  hours  the  remains  of  Abraham  L/i 
coin  lay,  while  a  continuous  stream  of  peo| 
passed,  through  the  long  hours  of  the  d 
and  night,  to  take  a  last  view  of  the  foi 
of  him  they  loved.  Some  conception  of  t 
princely  offerings  made,  may  be  inferr 
from  the  fact  that  the  City  Council  pc 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  the  two  iten 
the  construction  of  the  arches  and  the  d< 
oration  of  the  Court  House,  which  repi 
sented  not  a  tithe  of  the  total  expenditt 
by  citizens  and  associations. 
"Nor  wood  nor  stone  can  fit  memorial  yie 
For  deeds  of  valor  on  life's  battlefield," 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  79 

WILLIAMSVILLE. 

At  Williamsville,  near  Spring-field, 
.e  people  had  thrown  an  arch  over  the 
ilroad- track,  bearing1  the  inscription, 

1 ' He  has  fulfilled  his  mission. ' 
SPRINGFIELD. 

It  is  the  twelfth  day  from  Washing- 
u.  Home  at  last.  But  a  hearse,  and  not 
ie  usual  carriage,  meets  him  and  takes 
m  from  the  train.  Four  years  before  on 
aving,  he  had  said  to  his  neighbors,  "I 
low  not  how  soon  I  may  return."  He 
is  now  returned.  Imagine  the  scene 
nong  his  lifelong  friends,  at  this  unto- 
ard  home  coming. 

Forty  centuries  ago,  the  Patriarch 
Lcob  was  followed  to  "the  cave  of  his 
thers"  by  two  thousand  dependents  of 
ie  deceased,  and  by  order  of  his  premier 
>n,  Joseph,  all  the  chief  men  of  the  land 


80  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

were  commanded  "to  report  for  additiot 
escort.'  That  was  an  imposing  funei 
scene,  but  this  is  a  spontaneous  outbui 
of  feeling-,  and  a  virtual  following-  to  t 
tomb,  that  surpassed  anything  the  woi 
had  ever  seen. 


CHAPTER  III.         ,      ,:" 

e  LINCOLN   MONUMENT   AT   OAK   PARK. 

The  funeral  escort  had  not  reached 
ringfield  ere  there  was  a  common  move- 
it  on  foot  to  build  a  National  Monu- 
it  to  the  memory  of  the  martyred  'pres- 
nt.  Three  years  were  consumed  in  se- 
ing  funds  and  plans  for  the  monumen- 
pile,  and  in  getting  all  in  readiness. 

In  Sept.,  1869,  the  ground  was  broken 
the  foundations  were  laid  before  the 
of  that  year.     In  1871,   the  cap  stone 
s  placed  upon  the  towering  obelisk  and 
September  the  monument  was  so  far  ad- 
iced  in  its  construction  that   the  presi- 
t's   remains  were  removed   from  their 
iporary  vault  to  their  permanent  resting 
:e  in  the  monument. 

The  bronze  statue  of  Lincoln,  the 
-k  of  the  artist  L.  G.  Mead,  was  un- 
ed  on  Oct.  15,  1874.  The  notable  event 


82  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

on  that  occasion,  other   than  the  preser 
of  President  Grant,  and  other  high  offici; 
of  the  government,    was    the   oration 
Governor  Oglesby,  which  ended: 

"This  imposing  monument  and  testimon 
to  the  worth  of  the  man  will  endure  so  lo 
as  dust  shall  mark  the  spot  where  man  h 
fallen." 

A  poem  written   on  the  occasion  h 
these  lines: 

"Not  to  the  dust  but  to  the  deeds  alone, 
A  grateful  people  raise  the  historic  stone, 
And  cunning  art  shall  here  her  triumph  brir 
And   laurelled  bards  their   choicest  anthei 
:       sing, 
Here  youth  and   manhood  from  their  wal 

profound, 

Shall  come  and  halt  as  if  on  hallowed  grout 
The  spot  where  rests  one  of  the  noble  few 
Who  saw  the  right  and  dared  the  right  to  dc 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LINCOLN   ANECDOTES  TERSELY  TOLD. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  addressing  a  jury  of 
elve  men  and  he  told  them  this  story. 
A.y  client  is  in  the  fix  of  the  man,  who,  in 
ing  along  the  highway  with  a  pitchfork 
er  his  shoulder,  was  attacked  by  a  fierce 
g  that  ran  out  at  him  from  a  farmer's  door 
rd.  In  defending  himself  with  the  pitch- 
rk,  its  tines  or  prongs  stuck  into  the  dog 
d  killed  him.  "What  made  you  kill  my 
g?"  shouted  the  enraged  farmer.  "What 
ide  him  bite  me?"  said  the  man.  "Why 
In't  you  come  at  him  with  the  other  end  of 
e  fork?"  "Why  didn't  he  come  at  me  with 
f  other  end?"  quickly  responded  the  man. 

• 

Judge  Davis  of  Illinois  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
jre  great  friends.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  habit- 
lly  whispering  stories  to  his  neighbor, 
lile  sitting  in  the  court  room ;  often  to  the 
eat  annoyance  of  Judge  Davis.  When  the 
ing  went  too  far,  the  Judge  would  rap  the 


84  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

desk;  "come,  come,  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  is  no  us 
trying  to  carry  on  two  courts  in  this  room  £ 
the  same  time.  I  must  adjourn  mine  or  yo 
yours,  and  I  think  you  will  have  to  be  th 
one."  Then  as  soon  as  court  was  adjournec 
the  judge  would  call  the  man  to  him;  "whc 
was  that  Lincoln  was  telling?" 

Lincoln's  ever  readiness  to  help  one  i 
need,  was  illustrated  at  a  spelling  match,  i 
girl  friend  of  his  was  wrestling  with  an  obsti 
nate  word.  She  began,  "d-e-f" — hesitathij 
whether  to  proceed  with  an  "i"  or  a  "y. 
Just  then  she  caught  sight  of  "Abe"  whowa 
grinning,  and  pointing  his  index  finger  at  hi 
organ  of  sight.  She  took  the  hint  and  wen 
through  all  right. 

After  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  nomination,  i 
committee  visited  him  to  give  him  notifies 
tion:  When  the  ceremony  was  over,  Mr 
Lincoln  said:  "Gentlemen,  we  must  pledg< 

our  mutual  healths  in  the  most  healthful  bev 

• 

erage  which  God  has  given  to  man.     It  is  th< 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  85 

• 

ily  beverage  I  have  ever  used.     It  is  pure 
dam's  ale  from  the  spring." 

He  then  took  a  tumbler,  poured  out  the 
•ystal  stream,  and  touched  it  to  his  lips,  and 
edged  them  his  highest  respects  in  a  cup  of 
>ld  water;  and  they,  out  of  respect  to  him, 
llowed  his  example. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  exasperated  at  the  dis- 
•epancy  between  the  number  of  troops  sent 
•  General  McClellan,  and  the  number  the 
eneral  reported  as  reaching  him,  and  he  ex- 
aimed  with  much  impatience:  "Sending 
en  to  that  army  is  like  shoveling  fleas  across 
barnyard,  half  of  them  never  get  there." 

When  I  was  a  boy,  a  man  lecturing  on 
mperance  stayed  at  our  house  over  night. 

was  cold,  and  the  man  was  chilled  through 
hen  he  got  there  after  the  meeting.  The 
an  said,  if  we  could  give  him  a  hot  lemon- 
le,  it  would  keep  him  most  likely,  from  tak- 
Lg  cold.  It  was  suggested  that  some  whisky 
Ided  might  help(?).  "Well,"  he  said,  "you 

glit  put  in  some  unbeknown  to  me. " 


86  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  son  of  a  poor  widow  was  charg( 
with  murder,  committed  in  a  riot  at  a  can 
meeting.  Lincoln  defended  the  boy.  A  wi 

* 

ness  swore  that  he  saw  the  prisoner  stril 
the  blow.  It  was  night,  but  by  the  light  < 
the  moon  that  was  shining  brightly,  he  sa 
all  distinctly.  The  case  seemed  hopeless  f< 
the  accused. 

Lincoln  produced  an  almanac,  and  showe 
that  at  that  hour  on  that  night  there  was  i 
moon.  And  then  he  proceeded  to  picture  tl 
crime  of  perjury  with  such  eloquence  and  e 
feet,  that  the  false  witness  fled  the  seen 
The  day  was  closing  when  Mr.  Lincoln  coi 
eluded  with  this  sentence:  "If  justice  is  don< 
before  sunset  my  client  will  be  a  free  man 
The  court  charged  the  jury  briefly,  and  a  ve 
diet  was  quickly  given,  "not  guilty.'" 

The  prisoner  fell  into  his  mother's  am 

and  both  fell  upon  their  knees  to  Lincoli 
who  made  no  charge  for  his  services.  "See, 
he  said,  "it  is  not  yet  sundown  and  you  are 
free  man."  An  eye-witness  said:  "It  was  tli 
most  affecting  scene  I  ever  witnessed. " 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  8T 

Mr.  Shrigley  had  been  nominated  for 
iplain  in  the  army.  There  was  opposition 
him,  and  a  delegation  called  on  Mr.  Lincoln 
protest  against  his  appointment,  on  the 
>und  that  the  minister  was  not  sound  in  his 
igious  opinions.  President  Lincoln  in- 
red,  "on  what  question  is  the  minister  un- 
ind?"  '  'He  does  not  believe  in  endless  pun- 
ment,  and  furthermore,  he  believes  that 

rebels  themselves,  can  be  saved." 

"7s  that  so?"  ejaculated  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
n  he  added  solemnly,  '  'if  that  is  so  as  you 
;  and  if  there  is  any  way  under  heaven 
ereby  the  rebels  can  be  saved,  then,  for 
i's  sake,  and  for  their  own  sake,  let  Mr. 
rigley  be  appointed." 

A  party,  including  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  rid- 
over  a  rough,  corduroy  road  to  army 
udquarters  on  a  certain  occasion,  and  were 
loyed  with  the  driver's  occasional  volley  of 
f  suppressed  oaths  at  his  wild  team  of  six 
les.  Finally  Mr.  Lincoln  touched  the  dri- 


88  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ver  on  the  shoulder.     '  'Excuse  me,  are  you 
Episcopalian?" 

The  surprised  man  was  frustrated  fo 
moment,  but  recovered  himself  and  answer* 
"No,  Mr.  President,  I  am  a  Methodis 
"Well,  I  thought  you  must  be  an  Episcopc 
an,"  said  Lincoln,  "because  you  swear  ji 
like  Governor  Seward,  who  is  a  church  w 
den." 

A  man  convicted  by  court  martial  was 
be  shot  next  day.  Congressman  Kello 
pleaded  for  the  man's  life.  Secretary  StJ 
ton  was  inexorable.  Kellogg  went  to  pre 
dent  Lincoln  at  dead  of  night,  but  althou 
gone  to  bed,  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  the  Congre 
man's  plea  for  the  man's  life  and  wrote  out  ] 
reprieve,  saying,  "/  don't  believe  shooting  ^ 
do  him  any  good." 

During  the  war  an  Austrian  Count  appl: 
to  President  Lincoln  for  a  position  in  the 
my,  and  he  proceeded  to  explain  his  nobil 
and  high  standing.     "Never  mind,''  said  ^ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  89 

Lincoln,  ''you  shall  be  treated  with  just  as  much 
consideration  for  all  that.*' 

General  Halleck  wanted  General  Grant 
'to  let  up"  a  little  in  his  strenuous  campaign 
n  Virginia,  and  send  a  part  of  his  army  to 
lelp  him  enforce  the  draft.  The  president 
ielegraphed  to  General  Grant.  "I  have  seen 
four  dispatch,  expressing  your  unwillingness 
;o  break  your  hold  where  we  are,  nor  am  I 
milling.  Hold  on  with  a  bull  dog  grip,  and 
'hew,  and  chew,  and  choke  as  much  as  possible." 

A  man  came  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  employ  his 
egal  sei vices.  "State  your  case,"  said  Mr. 
Lincoln.  The  man  stated  his  case  in  detail 
vhen  Mr.  Lincoln  promptly  informed  him, 
'you  will  have  to  excuse  me,  for  I  cannot 
>erve  you;  you  are  in  the  wrong,  and  the  oth- 
jr  party  is  in  the  right." 

"But,  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  is  none  of  your 
Dusiness.  I  pay  you  for  your  services  to  win 
the  case." 

"My  business  is  never  to  defend  the 
wrong  in  any  case  whatsoever,  affirmed  Mr. 


90  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln.  "Not  for  any  amount  of  money?" 
asked  the  stranger  in  great  surprise.  "Not 
for  all  you  are  worth,  and  now,"  added  Mr. 
Lincoln.  "I  will  give  you  this  advice  free  of 
charge.  Go  and  earn  six  hundred  dollars  in 
some  other  way" 

President  Lincoln  appointed  a  society 
man  as  consul  to  a  South  American  country. 
A  wag,  meeting  the  appointee,  a  "dandy" 
sort  of  man.  on  his  way  to  the  White  House 
to  confer  with  the  President,  volunteered  the 
information  that  the  country  to  which  he  was 
appointed,  was  full  of  bugs,  and  that  they 
would  make  life  miserable. 

At  the  White  House,  this  aspirant  for 
honors  mentioned  the  matter  to  President 
Lincoln.  "I  have  been  informed,"  he  said, 
"that  the  place  was  full  of  vermin,  and  that 
they  would  eat  me  up  in  a  week's  time."  "In 
that  case,"  remarked  Mr.  Lincoln,  scanning 
the  young  man  from  head  to  foot,  "they  would 
leave  a  mighty  Jine  suit  of  clothes." 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  91 

One  day  on  a  railroad  train  Mr.  Lincoln 
iet  a  stranger.  '  'Excuse  ine, "  said  the  stran- 
er,  "but  I  have  an  article  in  my  possession 
lat  belongs  to  you. "  "How  so?"  inquired 
[r.  Lincoln.  The  man  drew  a  jack  knife 
•om  his  pocket,  saying  at  the  same  time: 
This  knife  was  placed  in  my  hands  some 
ears  ago,  with  the  injunction  that  I  was  to 
eep  it  until  I  met  a  man  uglier  than  myself, 
think  you  are  fairly  entitled  to  the  property, 
hich  I  now  transfer  to  you. " 

General  Hunter  said  that  the  'blacks" 
ould  not  work  if  you  give  them  freedom, 
incoln  replied,  "That  reminds  me  of  a  man 
at  in  Illinois,  by  the  name  of  Case,  who 
lought  to  raise  a  large  herd  of  hogs,  but  he 
id  not  want  the  trouble  of  feeding  them,  so 
3  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  planting  an  im- 
tense  potato  field,  and  when  the  potatoes 
rere  sufficently  grown,  he  would  turn  the  hogs 
:to  the  field  and  let  them  have  full  swing. 

"But,  Mr.  Case,"  said  a  neighbor,  "that 
all  very  fine  in  summer  time,  but  out  here 


92  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

in  Illinois  the  ground  freezes  a  foot  deep  whe 
winter  comes,  and  then,  what  are  your  hog 
going  to  do?"  Mr.  Case  had  not  taken  the 
into  account.  Scratching  his  head  as  if  t 
quicken  his  thought,  he  said:  "Well,  it  may  b 
hard  on  their  snouts,  but  'twill  be  root  hog  o 
die." 

Just  after  the  battle  at  Fredericksburc 
so  disastrous  to  the  Union  forces,  a  messer 
ger  carried  the  news  to  Washington.  Th 
President  had  received  ugly  rumors  of  the  dt 
feat  and  the  messenger  saw  in  his  face  his  dig 
tress  and  dreaded  to  add  to  it  by  telling  hie 
the  worst,  and  said  to  him,  "I  wish, '  Mr 
President,  I  could  tell  you  how  to  conquer  o 
get  rid  of  the  rebel  states." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  face  brightened  as  he  said 
"That  reminds  me  of  a  story.  Two  boys  i 
my  state  were  out  gunning,  and  in  the  middl 
of  the  wood  they  saw  in  the  near  distance 
large,  vicious  dog  bounding  toward  them 
One  boy  had  time  to  take  refuge  in  a  tree,  th 
other  missed  his  chance  to  escape  up  the  tre 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  93 

.d  kept  in  the  circle,  running  around  it,  the 
>g  after  him.  By  drawing  in  the  circle  he 
,ined  on  the  dog,  and  when  near  enough,  he 
ught  him  by  the  tail,  and  the  spin  around 
e  tree  went  on.  It  was  a  desperate  grip  he 
,d,  but  dangerous.  He  would  gladly  let  go, 
.t  dared  not,  and  appealed  to  his  comrade  in 
e  tree  to  come  down  and  help  Mm  to  let  go. 
id  that  is  my  fix.  I  can't  let  go  the  hold 
the  rebel  states. " 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  rivals,  a  liveryman, 
ovided  him  with  a  slow  horse  to  ride  to  a 
litical  convention,  in  the  hope  that  he  would 
t  reach  his  destination  on  time.  He  got 
ere,  however,  and  on  returning  the  animal, 
ncoln  said  to  the  liveryman:  "You  keep  this 
rse  for  funerals,  don't  you?"  '-Oh  no,"  re- 
ied  the  man.  "Well,  I'm  glad  of  that,  for 
you  did  you'd  never  get  the  corpse  to  the 
ave  in  time  for  the  resurrection." 

A  lady  called  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  who  had 
*eal  estate  claim,  or  thought  she  had,  and 
shed  him  to  take  up  her  case  and  she  left  a 


94  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

check,  a  retainer,  in  his  hands,  of  two  nun 
dred  dollars. .  Mr  Lincoln  examined  her  clain 
and  when  she  called  again  he  told  her  frank 
ly,  that  she  had  no  legal  ground  upon  whicl 
to  base  her  claim,  and  advised  her  not  to  presi 
the  suit. 

The  lady  had  confidence  in  his  word,  an< 
was  satisfied,  and  was  leaving,  when  Mr,  Lin 
coin  took  from  his  vest  pocket  the  $200  check 
saying,  "here  is  the  money  you  left  with  me. 
"But,  Mr.  Lincoln,"  said  the  woman,  "it  ii 
yours,  you  have  earned  it. "  "No,  that  woul< 
not  be  right,"  Mr.  Lincoln  insisted,  and  he  hcu 
his  way. 

An  officer  under  General  Sherman  com 
plained  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  General  Shermai 
threatened  to  shoot  him.  "Threatened  t< 
shoot  you!"  exclaimed  Lincoln,  and  then  ii 
a  stage  whisper  he  said,  "If  I  was  in  youi 
place  and  he  had  threatened  to  shoot,  I  woulc 
not  trust  him,  for  I  believe  he  would  do  it. " 

Friends  were  beseeching  Mr.  Lincoln  t( 
grant  their  ward  a  commission  to  serve  th< 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  95 

overnment  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
ley  urged  not  only  his  virtues,  but  the  fact 
f  his  poor  health,  as  a  reason  why  he  should 
3  favored;  whereupon  Mr.  Lincoln  con- 
•onted  them  with  the  more  stubborn  fact, 
lat  "there  were  eight  other  applicants  for 
lat  one  position,  and  they  are  all  sicker  than 


IUT  man. ' 


At  the  second  inauguration  the  day  being 
loudy  and  dark,  just  as  Mr.  Lincoln  stepped 
>rward  to  take  the  oath  of  office,  the  sun 
urst  forth  in  splendor  through  the  cloud, 
'n  the  next  day,  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  of  the 
icident  to  friends.  ''Did  you  notice  that  sun 
urst?  It  made  my  heart  jump." 

When  President  Lincoln  first  arrived  in 
Washington,  he  found  himself  so  besieged 
ith  office  seekers,  and  men  clamoring  for 
lace  and  position,  he  declared,  "I  feel  like  a 
tan  letting  lodgings  at  one  end  of  the  house, 
•hile  the  other  end  is  on  fire." 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  another  gentleman  were 
ding  through  the  country  on  an  old  time 


96  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mud  coach  and  they  were  arguing  on  ethical 
subjects.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  said  that  all  men 
were  prompted  by  selfishness  in  what  they 
did,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil.  His  fellow 
passenger  took  exception  to  this  statement; 
he  did  not  think  it  a  true  statement.  Just  then 
they  were  crossing  one  of  those  common-in- 
that-day  corduroy  bridges  laid  through  the 
swamp,  and  that  made  the  old  mud-wagon 
shake  like  a  man  in  an  ague  fit.  Hard  by  was 
an  old  "razor  back,"  a  mother  hog,  making  a 
great  noise,  because  some  of  her  pigs  had  got 
into  the  slough,  and  were  unable  to  get  out. 

Mr.  Lincoln  called  out:  "Driver,  can't 
you  stop  just  a  moment,  and  let  me  help  those 
pigs  out  of  the  water?"  The  driver  replied, 
"If  the  other  feller  don't  object."  The  other 
"feller"  was  Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  the  gallant 
General  who  fell  in  the  battle  at  Ball's  Bluff, 
and  he  did  not  object.  Mr.  Lincoln  quickly 
jumped  out,  and  tenderly  lifted  the  pigs  out 
of  the  mud  and  slush,  and  placed  them  safely 
on  the  bank. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  97 

"Now,  Abe,"  said  Col.  Baker,  when  he 
eturned  to  his  seat  in  the  hack,  "where  does 
elfishness  come  in  in  this  little  episode?'' 
Why,  bless  your  soul,  Ed. .  that  was  the  very 
ssence  of  selfishness.  I  would  have  had  no 
eace  of  mind  all  day,  had  I  gone  on  and  left 
tiat  suffering  old  sow  worrying  over  those 
igs.  /  did  it  to  get  peace  of  mind,  and  this  is 
jhat  I  mean  by  selfishness. ': 

One  of  the  last  official  acts  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
fas,  on  the  day  of  the  night  he  was  murdered, 
o  sign  a  pardon  of  a  soldier  sentenced  to  be 
hot,  saying,  "I  think  the  boy  can  do  us  more 
ood  above  the  ground  than  under  it." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LINCOLN  MEMORIAL  UNIVERSITY. 

At  the  opening*  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury, foundations  are  laid,  upon  which  are 
rising1  a  monument  to  Abraham  L/incoln, 
more  durable  than  stone  or  bronze,  or  any- 
thing- mechanics  can  pile,  or  artificers 
mould;  a  memorial,  altogether  worthy  of 
the  man  and  of  his  deeds. 

General  Howard  conceived  the  idea 
that  a  "L/incoln  Memorial  University' 
would  be  the  greatest  and  most  becoming- 
monument  to  perpetuate  the  name  and 
fame  of  the  man,  most  in  the  thoug-hts  of 
the  American  people. 

The  location  of  the  Lincoln  Memorial 
University  is  at  Cumberland  Gap,  at  the 
cornering-  of  the  three  states,  Tennessee, 
Kentucky  and  Virg-inia,  and  in  the  center 
of  a  population  of  mountain  people,  two 
millions  strong-,  rich  in  heredity,  Scotch- 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  99 

ish,  French-Huguenots,  English  and 
erman.  These  Apalachian  mountains, 
Dm  the  days  of  the  American  revolution, 
,ve  seemed  to  beget  the  spirit  of  liberty 
d  sympathy  with  free  institutions;  and 
the  Civil  War  these  warm  hearted  peo- 
e,  "loyal  refugees,'  Mr.  Lincoln  called 
em,  endured  and  suffered  much. 

It  was  proper  and  right  that  the 
merican  people  should  provide  for  these 
irds  of  the  nation,  and  provide  in  this 
ly,  and  in  the  name  of  Abraham  Lin- 
In.  Already  the  movers  of  this  enter- 
ise  are  at  work,  building  up  a  group  of 
dustrialSchoolsin  thisTennessee  district 
t  far  distant  from  Lincoln's  birthplace, 
d  near  where  his  grandsire  was  assassi- 
ted  by  hostile  Indians. 

The  first  purpose  of  this  movement  is 

* 

build  up  an  educational  institution  for  the 
tterment  of  the  people  of  all  that  region, 
le  second  and  incidental  purpose  is,  to 


100  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

rear  in  the  Allegheny  mountains  a  sub- 
stantial and  lasting  monument,  in 
memory  of  the  name  and  deeds  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  The  charter  of  the  University 
reads:  "said  University  shall  seek  to  make 
education  possible  to  the  children  of  the 
'plain'  people,  among  whom  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  born.' 

Providentially,  the  way  opened  to  do 
this  thing;  nor  the  least  item  was  that  the 
Cumberland  Park  Co.'s  property,  costing 
over  one  million  dollars,  was  bought  for  a 
fraction  of  that  sum,  as  a  site  for  the  Uni- 
versity campus  and  farms.  The  property 
consisting  of  five  hundred  acres  of  good 
farming  lands,  with  seven  buildings  and 
machinery. 

The  schools  now  have  three  hundred 
students  and  sixteen  teachers.  The  large 
farms  belonging  to  the  University  give  ev- 
ery facility  for  carrying  on  agricultural 
and  horticultural  operations,  the  work  all 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  101 

eing  done  by  the  students,  giving  support 
>  those  who  need  it. 

The  schools  publish  an  illustrated 
mrnal,  called  "The  Mountain  Herald,71 
esides  doing-  the  work  of  a  job  office.  The 
^udents  do  both  the  mechanical  and  head 
rork  in  the  publishing-  house,  serving"  un- 
er  the  superintendency  of  a  professional 
rinter.  A  skilled  draughstman  and  pat- 
srn  maker  has  a  class  of  young-  men  in  me- 
hanical  drawing-  and  wood  working1. 
Ahese  artisans  and  artists,  as  they  grow 
roficient  will  take  a  hand  in  the  construc- 
ion  of  the  new  building's  to  g-o  up  now  and 
enceforth.  Students  do  all  the  labor, 
erving-  under  competent  mechanics,  who 
re  the  teachers  in  the  several  industries, 
r  departments  of  labor. 

The  mission  of  the  schools  is  ever  kept 
n  mind,  namely,  to  provide  a  practical, 
msiness  education  to  the  young  people  of 
>oth  sexes,  to  the  "American  Highland- 


102  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ers,';  as  Prof.  Larry  speaks  of  the  people 
of  all  that  mountainous  and  heretofore  neg- 
lected region. 

General  Howard  relates  that  in  his 
last  interview  with  President  Lincoln,  he 
received  from  him  special  charge  to  look 
after,  and  provide  as  far  as  possible,  for 
these  mountain  "refugees/  who,  living 
upon  the  border  between  the  two  fighting 
armies  in  the  late  war,  were  the  greater 
sufferers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
MR.  LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  VIEWS. 

The  crude  theology  of  the  backwoods 
preachers  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  which 
prevailed  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  young 
nan,  was  not  relished  by  him. 

And  assuming-  that  the  Bible  taug-ht 
•vhat  they  preached,  it  was  not  strange 
;hat  young-  Lincoln  should  be  impelled 
rom  love  of  truth  to  write,  at  the  ag-e  of 
;wenty  three,  a  little  book,  in  which  he  un- 
lertook  to  prove  that  the  Bible  was  not 
;he  work  of  God,  if  it  taug-ht  these  thing's, 
ind  for  the  reason  that  God  would  not  be 
)art\r  to  wrong". 

Lincoln  intended  to  publish  his  pam- 
phlet, but  his  friend  and  employer,  Samu- 
jl  Hill,  knowing-  that  to  publish  such  views 
vould  prejudice  the  people  ag-ainst  him, 
matched  the  manuscript  from  Lincoln's 
lands  and  thrust  it  into  the  stove.  The 


104  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

book  was  never  published.  He  gradually 
grew  more  reticent  and  cautious,  however, 
and  talked  only  to  his  friends,  some  of 
whom  he  shocked  with  his  seeming'  infidel- 
ity, but  only  seeming*. 

Lincoln  hated  hypocrisy,  and  every 
form  of  injustice,  and  wrong*.  Insincerity 
was  a  trait  of  character  wholly  lacking1  in 
his  nature. 

He  worshipped  the  g*ood  and  the  true, 
wherever  he  found  it,  not  on  Sundays  only, 
but  on  every  day  of  the  week.  His  wor- 
ship was  love  of  truth,  and  helpful  serv- 
ice to  man  as  man. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  religious  views  were  fit- 
ted to  right  conduct;  they  were  practical 
in  their  working.  When,  on  a  certain  oc- 
casion he  was  asked  for  a  statement  of  his 
faith,  he  said: 

"I  am  like  an  old  man  I  knew  in  Indiana, 
who,  in  a  church  meeting  said,  'when  I  do 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  105 

good  I  feel  good,  and  when  I  do  bad,  I  feel 
bad,'  and  that  is  my  religion." 

On  another  occasion  he  said:  "Show 
me  a  church  with  the  two  Great  Com- 
mandments for  its  creed  and  I  will  join 
it." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  religious  life  was  built 
solidly  on  the  right,  as  he  saw  the  right. 
He  would  not  move  a  hair's  breadth  away 
from  the  truth  and  the  right;  he  would  die 
for  the  right  and  did.  "I  would,  rather 
than  give  up  this  principle,  be  assassinated 
on  this  spot.' 

Lincoln  believed  devoutly  in  the  broth- 
erhood of  man  and  in  the  fatherhood  of 
God;  and  he  believed  in  the  life  immortal 
and  in  rest  after  the  world's  well  fought 
battle. 

During  the  four  long  years  of  the  civil 
war,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  abundant  expres- 
sion to  his  unwavering  trust  in  the  justice, 
mercy  and  providence  of  God.  "I  know,' 


106  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

he  said,  "that  God  hates  injustice,  and  sla- 
very. Pray  that  I  may  receive  the  Divine 
assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed, 
but  with  which  I  cannot  fail.' 

Mr.  Lincoln  never,  even  in  the  dark- 
est days  in  the  middle  years  of  the  Rebel- 
lion's continuance,  despaired  of  the  gov- 
ernment; he  believed  that  right  made 
might,  and  that  forever  right  was  strong- 
er than  wrong  and  that  in  the  end,  it  must 
prevail. 


END. 


